MY THRIFT STORE APPLIANCES

The photo shows my cluttered kitchen. I baked bread today -- it is the weekend and hydro is almost half the price of the weekday rate. This is important because I do like to collect and use labour-saving appliances. For example, I grind spelt flour in an electric mill (see my previous post) and after years of manually kneading dough, I really appreciate using a good mixer. One of the rules of my appliance collecting is that I must get them second-hand. Finding the old German-made Braun KM32 mixer at a thrift store for $5 was a thrill -- it hasn't been manufactured in years and an internet search showed that it is still highly regarded. My vintage Mixmaster sits on the little refrigerator -- I won't use it for bread anymore, but I like the look of it.

Another thrift store triumph was the convection oven. My ancient Viking was down to one burner and the oven elements refused to respond anymore to vigorous jiggling. Again, I liked the look of the '50's stove with its push-button design. I knew that its day had finally come, but I was determined to replace it with something special. The new stove from the Alliston Habitat for Humanity store is a cook's delight, with finely tuned elements and various options, such as bread-proofing.

Last week I found yet another juicer at a thrift store. It is the same make as another that I own, but with all of the design problems corrected. So far I have juiced 40 pounds of carrots with added cranberries. Most of this has been frozen.

The tiny freezer that I bought (new) a couple of months ago has revolutionized my life. It is full of: organic milk that was discounted 50% and will be good for kefir (see previous blog), frozen fruit for kefir smoothies that was on special recently, many litres of carrot juice, and one chicken.

THE COMING WINTER

My little collie and I were setting off on one our favorite walks when we encountered our neighbour walking his two shepherds. I have been walking my dogs on his property for years now. I'd heard about his German Shepherds and so always carefully managed my walks when he and his dogs were in Florida for the winter.  When I finally met him three years ago both he and his Fifis, as he calls them, turned out to be friendly and so now Tip and I can trespass with confidence.

We had our first snow fall on the weekend -- it has gone but the weather remains cold. Garlic still needs to be planted and I will likely do that anytime within the next few days. The hurricane had brought much rain and I wanted to wait until the garden soil was drier.

The wood stove is in use again -- I deeply enjoy my slow breakfast by the glowing stove eating my porridge followed by a big pot of strong green tea. Now that the cold weather has become a fact that I can face, I have started to enjoy it. With sufficient firewood to last the season and minimal driving, it is a pleasure.

OAK MOULDING

When I moved into my little house eight years ago I knew that there was a lot of work that needed to be done -- I didn't mind because I knew that was why I had been able to afford the property. One entire year was spent on the most pressing items and once those were done I could each year choose something that needed work.

The local Habitat For Humanity Restore is usually the source for most of my materials. With no plan in mind as to where they would eventually go, I had bought a few years ago some fabulous oak mouldings. They were beautiful, were oak, and the price was low -- I couldn't resist buying them, but they went straight into storage. This summer I realized that the mouldings would make a perfect casement trim for the entry into the garden room. The entry had been expanded by the previous owners, but the job had not been finished properly. There was admittedly a certain satisfaction in taking a crowbar to something that so clearly needed destruction.

The drywall had to be replaced and the oak was just enough to finish the job.... I had to do a lot of adjustments before I was satisfied because the sag in my old house tends to make anything that is truly straight look 'off'. Crown moulding was doubled up to make the top part.

Instead of something that has to be visually 'tuned out', I now look at the entry with pride and pleasure.

photo: Tip is sitting in the entry. The sauna that I designed and built can be seen in the next room. The painting is an old one that I have kept from that particular series. The hardwood kitchen floor (visible in the photo) was one the necessary jobs during that first year in the house.

COLLECTING FLOWER SEEDS

The seeds that I had casually in early summer thrown onto an area of bare yard have grown into a vibrant and informal garden. That part of the yard had always been a problem -- rank grasses and weeds would grow high soon after my as-infrequent-possible mowing. So this spring I carefully covered the area with tarpaulins to destroy the weeds and after about two months I had, with little trouble and no toxicity, a perfect spot for anything I might choose to grow.

The flowers which include cosmos, black-eyed susans, bluets, and an unnamed orange flower have begun to produce seeds. Instead of buying a seed mix in the coming spring I have begun collecting the seeds in a large envelope. Fragrant nicotiana, feverfew, and hollyhock seeds have also found their way into the collection. I look forward to casting the seeds into a wider area and to converting that part of the yard to a borderless annual garden that will look like a field of wild flowers.

Temperatures here have reached 0 Celcius during the night but we haven't yet had any frost damage. I might try to extend their season by protecting them against the frost, if only to be able to collect more seeds.

MULTI-GRAIN BREAD

I just took a loaf of my bread out of the oven.... it is multi-grain with spelt, oat, sunflower and flax seeds. I also add soy flour to boost protein content. I've been baking bread for years but this combination of ingredients is new for me. My German neighbour Hans takes great pride in this recipe and he converted me... it really is a wonderful bread. Tastes good and is extremely nutritious. While the oven was on I also roasted a dish of garlic cloves to make a spread.

For years I have been grinding my own flour just before baking using my old Champion Juicer with its grain mill attachment. K2 Milling in Tottenham is my local source for organic grain -- much less expensive to buy a big bag straight from a miller. I bake at least once a week and this bread does use a lot of grain..... it is great not to run short of the main ingredient.

The juicer was purchased used from the previous owner of my house several years before I moved here. It has returned to its former home. It wasn't new to Marika either, so it must be at least twenty-five years old.

WOODCHIPS AND GOUT WEED

I had been in great hopes last fall that the mountain of wood chips dumped on my garden by the Hydro crew would solve my on-going gout weed problem once and for all. It didn't. A gardening friend had gently hinted that the gout weed would simply grow through the chips, deep as they were. The spring shoots were only a little challenged by the chips -- I thought that destroying them as they came up would eventually make them give up the battle. But once again the gout weed won. The road side area is covered with plants. I am ashamed to admit this, but I have begun to spray them.

What I should have done is placed a relatively impermeable but biodegradable mulch, like layers of paper, over the cut plants and then put the heavy layer of chips on top. The photo (the identical view from the January 25th blog) shows the area where I had placed the tarpaulin the year before -- the gout weed there is virtually gone. The wood chips destroyed smaller weeds but some of the perennial plants that I hadn't relocated managed to come up.

Phlox loves my damp and rich soil and has become one of the dominant plants  --  I have been moving them around the yard and have promised spring plants to a friend who hopes that they will grow in his sandy soil  -- it will be interesting to see how they will do.

WILD OYSTER MUSHROOMS

I've known for some time now that this old beech tree trunk supports a colony of oyster mushrooms but I've never quite managed to get to it before the mushrooms are invaded by insects. We have had many days of rain and cooler weather and I knew that the mushrooms must be out, but I was also reluctant to set out in the rain and humidity. When my collie and I set out for our walk to the mushroom tree this morning I assumed that once again I would be too late to find harvestable mushrooms. It was too late for the Chanterelles (in the foreground of the photo) -- they had been spoiled by insects. Sorry as I was about the Chanterelles, I was delighted to see that the oyster mushrooms higher up on the tree were still fine. I gathered all that I could reach and look forward to a fine dinner tonight.

GARLIC HARVEST

I harvested the garlic from my garden this morning -- my biggest and best crop ever. A neighbour brought in cattle manure last fall just before planting and I also spread the contents of the compost container over the area to be planted. It all made a huge difference -- some of the bulbs are as large as onions and I have more than I can either possibly eat (and I do eat a lot of garlic, mostly raw) or replant. A friend living high up in the Mulmur hills will welcome the extras for his garden.

My garden is small and doesn't get full sun -- a corner of it is visible in the photo -- but garlic is predictably a good crop. Because of the early summer, heat, and regular rainfall, everything seems to be doing very well.

I have to see what I can do about eliminating weeds from the garlic bed and then plant cloves -- probably in September or October -- for next summer.

PREMATURE CROCUSES

   
    These last few days have been hot and sunny -- temperatures have been reaching 26 degrees Celsius, or close to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.... and it is winter here in Canada! It was initially very pleasant -- long walks on the Bruce Trail with a friend, early gardening, getting a tan and so forth -- by now it just seems strange. The crocuses shown in the photo were drooping by this evening. Yet I noticed that the Bloodroot along the north side of my house has shown no inclination to emerge.
   

COYOTES

     Coyotes are very much a part of the local wildlife here. My neighbour farmers have to be vigilant against predation but I enjoy hearing their howling in a pack and to see the record of their activities in the snow. When walking my collie in the back fields and woods I am amazed at the many fresh criss-crossing tracks. Yet I have never once spotted one while walking. Fast glimpses while driving of furtive coyotes going about their business is the best I've been able to do. Undoubtably coyote eyes watch us as we invade their territory.
    They are handsome animals in their winter coats. Intelligent and social with many of the same habits as domestic dogs, the tracks tell the story of their travels, of their meeting fellow coyotes and of the inevitable urine marking on a mound of snow. My little Border Collie thoroughly sniffs the site and leaves her own mark.

photo:  On our morning walk we followed this particular track for a considerable distance before the coyote veered off into the woods after meeting its friends. The snow is from the only heavy snowfall that we have had during this mild winter.
     

MY GOUT WEED PROBLEM

     The small patch of green Gout Weed (aka Bishop's Weed) in one shady corner of my flower garden at first delighted me because it brightened up that area and it appeared to keep weeds away. Several years later when it was becoming apparent that the Gout Weed was galloping destructively straight through the garden, I could only grind my teeth in regret in not destroying it while it was yet possible.
     Gout Weed is not only highly invasive but it is notoriously difficult to get rid of because even a tiny bit of its complicated root system left behind from digging will quickly regenerate more plants. The only thing that seems to work is to mulch the area in which they grow.  A tarpauline mulch worked well in an open section of the garden last summer but was impossible to use in shrubby areas unless I was prepared to destroy a row of lilac bushes.
     Wood chips seemed like a possible solution but I knew that I needed a massive amount to have it thick enough to kill the Gout Weed. When the Hydro crew came by in the fall and asked if I wanted some wood chips I was delighted. Four huge truck loads of wood chips have since been dumped on the infested areas and hope is high that at last this dreadful plant has been conquered.

     It will be interesting to see what will happen in the spring... 

COOKING DINNER ON THE WOODSTOVE

    I commonly cook my meals on top of my woodstove in the winter. Black bean, lentil, and pea soups do not take long to cook and somehow seem to taste better for having been prepared over wood heat. Legumes are an economical and highly nutritious food -- and if prepared with imagination, very tasty. I typically add a lot of bay leaves and dried mushrooms (great buys from the reduced shelf that I dry) for flavour -- the house smells great while the pot simmers.
    Tonight I will have pea soup;  tomorrow the thickened soup will be perfect for breaded patties broiled along with my organic CSA vegetables.
    My little house has to be heated anyway at this time of year, so putting a pot on the woodstove is no trouble. Not having to use my electric stove during the high daytime rates is very satisfying. 

photo:  My older Vermont Castings woodstove with an cast iron Jove's head in the foreground to store and radiate heat.... newly oiled (with olive oil) snowshoes in the background await first use. All are second-hand.