New Business!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here – for good reason.

I’ve spent the past few weeks placing orders for over $3000 of berry and herbs plants and seeds.

Why?

Check it out over at Foraged & Sown!

I’ll be selling herb and berry seedlings, bare root berry plants (and a few hazelnuts and chestnut trees), fresh cut herbs and dried herb blends.

If you’re local to Columbus, and you’re interested in any of the above, drop me a line. If you’d like to be in the know about the latest Foraged & Sown offerings, head over here.

(Last thought for today – have you ever seen my Beet Infused Vodka tutorial? It’s amusing to me that it is by far the most visited page on this site.)

Incubating chicken eggs.

This is the second in a four-post series about hatching eggs from our 5 deceased laying hens who fell victim to a predator, along with nearly all of their temporary flock-mates, during their transitional stay at Harmonious Homestead. For more, read The Absence of Chickens.

Introducing another partner in our quest to raise a new generation of chickens, the HovaBator incubator from City Folk’s Farm Shop.

The HovaBator 1588 is a Styrofoam picture-window incubator with digital electronic controls and temperature and humidity sensors. It has a few optional add-ons, including the automatic egg-turner that we brought home with us.

Right out of the box, the entire operation is intuitive and easy to assemble. The bottom tray goes down first, then the water reservoir, the hardware cloth hatching surface and then the lid. Our automatic egg-turner sits on top of the hardware cloth grate, its power cord exiting through a small, specifically-manufactured channel.

The digital controls and sensor reading displays are all on the lid of the incubator, along with the large plexiglass window.

To get the eggs started, I searched the internet and found quite a few informative sites about hatching chicken eggs. Instead of giving you a step-by-step myself, since this is my first time endeavoring to hatch eggs, I’ll point you to some resources in the next post of this series.

one more time: a new place to call home.

Barring any last-minute issues, tomorrow, May 27, we will again become homeowners. We’ll be downsizing our inside space, from 2500 to 1155 sqft, but we’ll be drastically upgrading the yard space: we’ll have over .25 acres to play with.

I expect to be back here frequently to document the changes we make to our new homestead.

I hope that you’ll soon see:
The return of the hens
A tire swing and hammock
Three berry patches
A small meadow lawn
A mini orchard
Outdoor house shows with Dennis
A wild edibles and medicinals learning garden

The simultaneous tasks of purging and packing while working are petty exhausting. So if you see me in the next few weeks, offer me a coffee. Or just a jab in the ribs to get me moving again.

Foraging, Spring 2014

Spring is decidedly here, as evidenced by temperatures creeping up and up, days of rain, snow and ice now taking the form of streams, buds on the trees and our favorite spring greens popping up everywhere.

In our yard, I’m greeted by Corn Speedwell, Red Dead Nettle (Lamium purpureum), Bedstraw (Galium triflorum), Plantain (Plantago major), Curly Dock (Rumex crispus), Chickweed (Stellaria media), Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), Chicory (Cichorium intybus) Burdock (Arctium lappa), and the beginnings of Violet (Viola sororia), all uncultivated. In the woods, ramps and garlic mustard are springing up in abundance, signaling the beginning of morel season.

With all of these foraging options, today I chose to focus on a wild food that could have, and perhaps should has, been harvested last fall after the first frost: Rose Hips. High in Vitamin C, rose hips are said to be a general health and wellness staple. The fruit of both cultivated and wild roses occurs after the blooms have died, sending nutrients to a round red-orange fruit, containing the seeds, just behind the rose blossom. Embarrassingly, I’ve not tried them myself. Knowing that they are often dried to be used in teas or herbal infusions, I could not ignore the glut of large hips still present on the bushes in our next door neighbor’s front yard.

Darren and I headed out for a twelve foot hike, scissors and buckets in hand.

With no instruction from me, he chose an effective method to harvest: snip the ends with scissors held in one hand, while your other hand holds a bucket just below to catch the hip as it falls.

We’ll pick through these to remove any that are mushy instead of sun-dried.

Happy foraging!

Home Ec: June 24, 2013

In Columbus, we took the month of May off to accommodate Memorial Day while our Canadian counterparts celebrated their first Home Ec at a new location. This month, though we’re back in the game at the usual date and time, it’s our turn to announce a new location!

Join Rachel and I, and Joel and Dana of Well Preserved – virtually, at City Folk’s Farm Shop on North High Street.

In Joel and Dana’s words:

“What the heck is picnic? Show up with something to share that’s inspired by the idea of having a picnic. We’re not too serious about rules and we have all levels of cooks so don’t be shy!

If you’ve never been to a HomeEc, we really hope you’ll come out. There’s a friendly stable of regulars and several new people too. We’ll be the best hosts we can be and make sure that you get to meet some fun people and interact with a community of fun people who love food. If you’re really nervous about making something (and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches definitely count!) just show up to your first event and check it out.”

We think this month’s theme is particularly appropriate for our new gathering place of City Folk’s. Perhaps you’ll see a checkered blanket set the scene as we sit among straw bales, chicken feed, rain barrels, canning supplies and other homesteading goods.

Home Ec. Have you been? No need to be shy – join us!
RSVP on Facebook if you’d like to get in on the conversation.

Monday, June 24. 8:00 pm. It’s picnic time.

Press.

First, a quick public thank you to Joe Blundo of the Columbus Dispatch for joining me on an urban foraging walk recently. You can read about it in today’s paper, Thursday June 13, 2013, or online here.

I’ve been busy “in the field” lately. If you stopped by my yard, though, you might not believe me. The weeds are taking over! (And strategically being left in many spaces.)

Here are a few that have popped up recently. If you find me on Instagram (katehodges2) or Twitter (@kateforagefiber), you’ll see more as I come across wild edibles up in Michigan this weekend.

Scarlet Pimpernel (not edible, or conflicting information, but so pretty)

Common Mallow (This one is a favorite right now as its cute, fleshy-crunchy seed pods, resembling tiny wheels of cheese, are a great edible garnish.)

Asiatic Dayflower (This picture shows two tiny flowers, one above the other.)

Prickly Lettuce (The spines on new leaves are flexible and not so pokey. Our chickens love this almost more than strawberries!)

Watch for more on Twitter!

Reducing waste: New sunglasses.

Our culture is one of consumption. We purchase, use and dispose without looking for a different way to engage with the material goods in our lives. Convenience is king, and the many inexpensive options in big box stores make it so.

It takes discipline to begin down the road of lessening waste, and that discipline is tested in almost every purchasing decision. In my own family of three, if we forget the reusable grocery bags at home, do we put off the grocery store trip until tomorrow when it’s on our mind, and the store is in front of us, right now? Will we take home only one of an item if that second one, that we don’t really need, is half-off?

I was tested recently when I went into my local eye doctor to order a pair of prescription sunglasses. My non-prescription eyewear wouldn’t fit over my glasses, and the sun was getting too bright for my sensitive eyes to tolerate. I had taken to going everywhere – including in the car – with a large sunhat on, but even that was no longer cutting it.

I knew the lens to correct my very near-sighted vision would be quite expensive, so I was thrilled to hear that the frames were currently at a deep discount with a specialty lens purchase. The price still added up to a significant cost, but I was expecting it. I tried on frames, one after the other, all the while comparing them to the sunglasses that I already owned – a vintage pair, purchased at a consignment shop.

I asked about putting new lenses in my existing frames. I was told that a template would have to be made at the lens manufacturer, increasing both the cost and time of production. In all, I would save about 10% by dumping my old frames for new ones.

At that moment, I considered an article on Zero Waste Homethat I had come across recently. Though I don’t achieve quite that extreme, the article’s point, that the “cost” of waste should be factored into the price of replacing something for less than it costs to fix it, had been resurfacing for a few days in my thoughts.

Invitation: May 11 foraging trek

I’d like to offer an invitation to join me on a foraging trek on Saturday, May 11.

Location and time will be chosen by May 8

Please contact me as soon as possible, using the form here or by email at kateforagefiber at gmail dot com.

My tentative plan is to stay within a one-hour drive of downtown Columbus and spend between 2 and 4 hours in the field. If you have a time frame you need to stick to, please offer it up when you contact me. I anticipate that we will each need to bring heavy snacks or a light meal.

Due to the last-minute nature of this outing, there will be no charge. It is possible we will have access to privately-owned land and will be able to bring foraged items home with us, but there is a stronger possibility that this will take place on public land – acting as an outing to stretch our muscles and hone identification skills.

Join me!

Recipe: Ravioli with wild greens and chèvre.

With no documentation of the of the finished product except the above, admittedly lacking, photo, this is one moment that I implore you to take my word for truth. If you like pasta, and especially if you like making pasta, you deserve to treat yourself to fresh, homemade ravioli. A multi-hour affair, this one is not for the weak. But it’s a palate stunner; the perfect dish to serve to a dear friend for whom a bit of work is no sacrifice or someone that you really want to impress. Make it for people who will love it.

On to the recipe. Upon sourcing ingredients for a ravioli dish earlier this year, I learned that chèvre is a traditional ravioli filling. For my lactose-intolerant self, this knowledge (imparted by local Cheesemonger Michael Kent of Curds and Whey) was nearly life-altering. I had not eaten ravioli since 2008, and it surely had always been filled with ricotta. I thought that it was dish that was simply out of my reach now.

This recipe is heavily adapted from one in Tama Matsuoka Wong’s book Foraged Flavor. I feel comfortable posting it here due to the many changes I’ve made to suit the recipe to my dietary needs and the desires.

Ravioli with Wild Greens and Chèvre

Pasta dough:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rye flour
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon olive oil
pinch of salt

Filling:
1 Tablespoon butter, ghee, or olive oil
1 1/2 ounces red dead nettle (top 2 inches, including flowers)
1 ounce chickweed (tender parts only)
1 ounce wild garlic chopped coarsely (bulb and greens)
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
3 ounces chèvre
1/4 cup grated pecorino romano

1. Filling: Over medium heat, melt the butter (or ghee or olive oil). Add greens and cook until soft, 2 to 3 minutes.

2. In a food processor or blender, process cooked greens until fairly smooth but still retaining texture, less than a minute. Transfer to a medium bowl and combine with both cheeses. Add salt and pepper to tasty. Refrigerate until your pasta is ready to be filled.

3. Dough: Mix together flours, one egg, the yolk of the second egg (reserve white for step 4) olive oil and salt. Adding flour as needed to prevent sticking, knead dough on a flat surface for about 5 minutes, until it is supple, smooth and elastic. Wrap in plastic and allow to rest 30 minutes.

4. Using a pasta machine, roll dough to two notches from the thinnest setting (7 out of 9 for mine). On one sheet, place teaspoonfuls of filling, leaving one inch between each(this works out to two raviolis per row when I machine-roll my dough). Wet your finger with the reserved egg white, and run it between each drop of filling in horizontal and vertical motions. Include all edges, and re-wet your finger as needed. Place the other sheet of dough on top. Beginning with the center, press the dough down between each drop of filling to seal the ravioli, pushing air bubbles out toward the edges. Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut the ravioli into squares, checking the seal on the edges as you go.

5. In a non-stick skillet over low heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter or ghee.

6. Bring a large pot of salty water to a boil. Cook the ravioli in batches to prevent sticking. Test one to see how long yours take to cook. As each batch finishes, transfer them to the skillet and toss in the melted butter.

7. Serve immediately, topped with large shavings of pecorino romano.

If you make this, please do let me know how you find it. There are many options for substitutions, and I’ll happily provide some if you have questions about ingredients.

Yard Edibles Consulting

It seems these days that more and more people are interested in cutting harmful pesticides and chemical fertilizers out of their lawn-care regime. The common finding, upon doing so, is that unintended plants begin to show up. First appearing on the margins, and then creeping further into the lawns and garden beds, these plants can cause frustration and doubts about changing ones approach to the care of their property.

We call them weeds. We don’t want them there. We don’t know what they are.

In my yard of .08 urban acres, before the garden growing season has fully kicked into gear, I can find a dozen different plant species. Already mature and ready to harvest, and as tasty as any cultivated green, they require no watering, no mulching, no care at all. They’re simply there, ready for me to partake of them if I dare.

Do you dare? Are they safe?

Our brains are wired for visual imprinting. We remember faces of people we have met only once, years ago. Surely we all know what a dandelion looks like. And an acorn. Asparagus. Raspberries. Simply through repeated exposure, we are able to gain the ability to recognize something with no effort.

We just need something to guide us through those first few positive imprints.

You can do it on your own, using books and the Internet. You absolutely can. But if you find yourself desiring a second set of eyes, I will happily provide on-site consultation in the Columbus area for a small fee. And to more fully start you down the path of embracing wild edibles, I will share cooking and recipe tips for the edibles that we identify using field guides and other resources.

I understand that beginning the voyage of utilizing backyard edibles can be intimidating for some. We all deserve to give it a try; if you’re interested, the knowledge is absolutely attainable.

Schedule your consultation now!