I spent the weekend with my family in Toronto, and at the last minute realised I had not prepared anything for the bake of the week! Wanting to make something that would begin the transition to more Autumn-like cooking, I looked for a recipe that called for pumpkin, and came across this recipe for cookies. I am going to experiment with substituting 1 cup of oats for one cup of flour next time, as I wasn't too crazy about the consistency of the first batch. I'll update this post once I've tried that.
Pumpkin Spice Cookies
1 Cup butter, softened
1 1/3 Cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 Large eggs
2 Teaspoons vanilla extract
2 Cups canned or fresh pumpkin puree
4 Cups all-purpose flour
2 Teaspoons baking powder
2 Teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 Teaspoon baking soda
1 Teaspoon salt
1 Teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 Teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 Teaspoon ground clove
Preheat oven to 350F.
In a VERY large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla, and once combined, mix in the pumpkin.
In a separate bowl, mix the remaining ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the pumpkin, and mix thoroughly.
Grease cookie sheets, or line with parchment paper. Using a spoon, drop the batter onto the cookie sheets, about one tablespoon at a time. Or, if you want a neater-looking cookie, flour your hands and roll each tablespoon into a ball, and flatten the batter on the sheets with the palm of your hand.
Bake for about 15-18 minutes, until the batter is set, but the cookies have not yet turned brown. Let cool on racks, and enjoy!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Garden Summary 2010: Part 1
Though the growing season is not completely over, we've now had the opportunity to harvest each crop at least once (we had such an early spring this year that some crops, like our lettuce, beets, and radishes; have been planted twice or even three times!), so we are now able to take stock over our efforts, review, and see what things worked, and what we could improve upon.
First and foremost, this year's garden was all about experimentation. Everything, from the type of garden beds we built to the produce we grew was mostly new to us, and we were unsure of what type of yield we would receive. And I am very happy to announce that overall this year's garden was a huge success. The simple fact that we've purchased virtually no vegetables, and only a small amount of fruit the entire summer is a testament to the wonders of growing your own food. We've been very blessed.
That being said, I want to go over each thing we grew, and the methods we used, and review what worked, and what changes we will make next year. There is no way I will be able to fit this all into one post, so I will be breaking the summary up into several parts. I am not yet sure how many, as it all depends on how long each post ends up. This is not only for ourselves, to keep record of our efforts and document the various techniques we've tried, but hopefully also be useful to others; that they may learn from ourmistakes example.
Yet before I go into the summary, I'll give a little update: we've started winterizing the garden beds. Chris went out and bought clear plastic sheeting and strapping (which is not, as I originally thought, the fabric strapping used to tie down boxes during shipping, but wood strapping, 1"x1.5". It is looking MUCH better than I had imagined in my head - silly me!), and is covering each bed to make 3 removable greenhouses. By keeping the snow and frost off each bed, we should extend our growing season well into Autumn this year, and make for earlier planting next spring! Did I mention my husband is a genius? Of course, this is all unproven and yet another experiment for us, but so far the interior of the plastic has already been a few degrees warmer than the outside air, so that's promising. Anyways, on to the summary...
The garden beds
The first things I'd like to go over are the garden beds themselves. We researched many methods and ideas long before we actually built the beds, and from everything we read, we decided raised beds were the way to go. The beds were supposed to be 12" x 4", though ended up more like 12'x5', 12'x4.5', and 12'x4'. We were using wood given to us, so we can't complain! I will say however, that for me, at 5'4", it is much easier to work in the bed that was only 4' across. The very first bed I often had to step into to weed the very centre, which defeated one of the reasons we used raised beds in the first place. They are supposed to ensure you never have to walk in the bed; which means the soil is never compacted and remains light and airy. Also, by not having to make room for pathways, you can ignore the spacing given on the seed packaging, and grow your produce closer to the ideas set out in square foot gardening. This gives you greater yield in a smaller space.
As mentioned, we used wood given to us, and the beds ended up about 6" high. That is probably the lowest you'd want to make the beds, and I would recommend making them about 1' high. Not only is this easier on your back, but if the soil you are starting out with is not the best, then you can give your plants more nutrients by filling the beds with triple-mix (as we did) or other organic matter-rich combinations.
Wood is not the only thing you can make the beds out of; I've seen pictures of other materials used: bricks, concrete blocks, or you can even just pile the earth up without any type of retaining wall. We chose wood because although it will have to be replaced in 5-10 years as the wood rots, it gives up the opportunity to change up the layout later on, and is simply not as permanent. That is also why Chris constructed the arbours in wood and without nails; for the simple reason that they can be taken apart with relative ease.
As this post is becoming rather long, I'll leave it at this, and continue part two by discussing the arbours!
First and foremost, this year's garden was all about experimentation. Everything, from the type of garden beds we built to the produce we grew was mostly new to us, and we were unsure of what type of yield we would receive. And I am very happy to announce that overall this year's garden was a huge success. The simple fact that we've purchased virtually no vegetables, and only a small amount of fruit the entire summer is a testament to the wonders of growing your own food. We've been very blessed.
That being said, I want to go over each thing we grew, and the methods we used, and review what worked, and what changes we will make next year. There is no way I will be able to fit this all into one post, so I will be breaking the summary up into several parts. I am not yet sure how many, as it all depends on how long each post ends up. This is not only for ourselves, to keep record of our efforts and document the various techniques we've tried, but hopefully also be useful to others; that they may learn from our
Yet before I go into the summary, I'll give a little update: we've started winterizing the garden beds. Chris went out and bought clear plastic sheeting and strapping (which is not, as I originally thought, the fabric strapping used to tie down boxes during shipping, but wood strapping, 1"x1.5". It is looking MUCH better than I had imagined in my head - silly me!), and is covering each bed to make 3 removable greenhouses. By keeping the snow and frost off each bed, we should extend our growing season well into Autumn this year, and make for earlier planting next spring! Did I mention my husband is a genius? Of course, this is all unproven and yet another experiment for us, but so far the interior of the plastic has already been a few degrees warmer than the outside air, so that's promising. Anyways, on to the summary...
The plastic sheeting going up to winterize the beds
The first "greenhouse" completed
The first things I'd like to go over are the garden beds themselves. We researched many methods and ideas long before we actually built the beds, and from everything we read, we decided raised beds were the way to go. The beds were supposed to be 12" x 4", though ended up more like 12'x5', 12'x4.5', and 12'x4'. We were using wood given to us, so we can't complain! I will say however, that for me, at 5'4", it is much easier to work in the bed that was only 4' across. The very first bed I often had to step into to weed the very centre, which defeated one of the reasons we used raised beds in the first place. They are supposed to ensure you never have to walk in the bed; which means the soil is never compacted and remains light and airy. Also, by not having to make room for pathways, you can ignore the spacing given on the seed packaging, and grow your produce closer to the ideas set out in square foot gardening. This gives you greater yield in a smaller space.
As mentioned, we used wood given to us, and the beds ended up about 6" high. That is probably the lowest you'd want to make the beds, and I would recommend making them about 1' high. Not only is this easier on your back, but if the soil you are starting out with is not the best, then you can give your plants more nutrients by filling the beds with triple-mix (as we did) or other organic matter-rich combinations.
Wood is not the only thing you can make the beds out of; I've seen pictures of other materials used: bricks, concrete blocks, or you can even just pile the earth up without any type of retaining wall. We chose wood because although it will have to be replaced in 5-10 years as the wood rots, it gives up the opportunity to change up the layout later on, and is simply not as permanent. That is also why Chris constructed the arbours in wood and without nails; for the simple reason that they can be taken apart with relative ease.
As this post is becoming rather long, I'll leave it at this, and continue part two by discussing the arbours!
We've entered a contest!
If finances were no object, we'd be most likely off the grid by now (or at least producing most of our own energy through wind and solar power), and would have implimented many other systems to make ourselves as self-sustaining as possible. These would be things such as a solar hot water heater, wood stove, and rain and greywater capturing systems.
But alas, all of these are quite large expenses, and ones we will continue to slowly work towards. Which is fine.
However, if the opportunity ever comes along to implement one of these ahead of schedule, then we would jump at the chance.
SoNice, a soy milk producer, is currently having a contest to do just that.
They are running a contest, for which the grand prize is $5,000! You simply write, in 300 words or less, how you would use the money to make yourself more sustainable and create a more organic world. You can find out more information here.
To see our entry and to vote for us, click here!
I love to see larger corporations get on board, and it's wonderful that they're giving the average person an opportunity to really make a difference. Check it out!
But alas, all of these are quite large expenses, and ones we will continue to slowly work towards. Which is fine.
However, if the opportunity ever comes along to implement one of these ahead of schedule, then we would jump at the chance.
SoNice, a soy milk producer, is currently having a contest to do just that.
They are running a contest, for which the grand prize is $5,000! You simply write, in 300 words or less, how you would use the money to make yourself more sustainable and create a more organic world. You can find out more information here.
To see our entry and to vote for us, click here!
I love to see larger corporations get on board, and it's wonderful that they're giving the average person an opportunity to really make a difference. Check it out!
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