I am using these long winter days of winter to clean, reorganize, and reset my home. Are you?
Over the years, basement storage spaces can get very disorganized - items are mixed up, shelves are confused, more pieces are added without thought as to where they should be placed, etc. My housekeepers recently tackled one area where I keep my stainless steel sheet pans, tube, tart, and bundt pans, my chocolate and candy molds, giant bowls and cookers, and more. For this clean-up, the shelves were emptied and wiped-down, like-items were grouped together, and finally, everything was returned where they could be found easily and quickly. It's a tedious chore, but it’s always rewarding to see the end result.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Do you have an area where you store all your less used pans, pots, and baking supplies? These shelves in my basement are used for storing many of the stainless steel items I do not use regularly.
It’s not a large space, so one by one the shelves are emptied and then wiped down thoroughly.
These are industrial warehouse racks. They come in various sizes, and configurations to suit different storage needs.
Enma wipes down a collection of enamelware trays. Enamelware includes items covered with a porcelain enamel finish.
I have a lot of enamelware pans. Once they are cleaned, they are stacked appropriately next to other enamelware bowls, cups, etc.
In the shelf underneath the enamelware are other metal trays of various sizes.
Enma removes each one and wipes it thoroughly before returning. It is a very tedious job.
Loaf pans are also wiped clean and stacked neatly on a shelf.
If you’re an avid cook or baker like I am, you probably have a lot of sheet pans. Sheet pans have raised edges on all four sides to prevent spilling – don’t confuse them with cookie sheets which typically have no sides for fast cookie removal.
Do you know the difference between tube pans and bundt pans? Tube pans have straight sides and a central hollow tube – ideal for light, airy cakes. Bundt plans are more decorative with fluted sides and a central tube and used for denser pound cakes.
I also have a number of chocolate and candy molds.
These molds have a western theme with horses, cowboys, and covered wagons.
And do you recognize these? These are five cup turkey molds I use from Nordic Ware. They can be used for cornbread, cranberry sauce, or even cake. I use them every year for Thanksgiving.
The molds are kept near other tart pans and springform pans where they can be found and accessed easily when needed.
They’re heavy, but cast iron cookware is well known for its ability to retain and distribute heat evenly. They have been used for centuries and are some of the most durable cooking items.
In a back corner – giant bowls. I use the biggest ones for ice at parties – oftentimes with delicious shucked oysters on top waiting to be devoured.
This is a paella pan – a wide, shallow cooking vessel for making the popular Spanish rice and seafood dish, paella, from the Valencia region of Spain.
Enma came across this vintage nut and meat chopper. These are designed with a glass jar base, a metal lid, and hand crank.
The shelves look so much better after cleaning and organizing.
It may still be winter, but it can never be too early for some thorough spring cleaning. I hope you’re inspired.
It's always so great to start off the new year growing healthy, delicious, organic greens.
Now that it's winter, attention is turned toward planting and maintaining my vegetable greenhouse, so I am never without fresh produce. I already have lots of wonderful vegetables thriving inside. Yesterday, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, also transplanted young cucumbers and tomatoes started from seed.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
This large structure has 16 raised flower beds. Some beds were just seeded. Some include plants that have just germinated and are in the beginning stages of growth. And some beds have young, but already established plants.
This structure uses minimal artificial heat, where many cold hardy crops, such as root vegetables and brassicas, can be grown and harvested through the winter months. I also installed grow lights specially designed to substitute natural sunlight, stimulating photosynthesis, and provide the right color spectrum for thriving plants.
Ryan and I make sure to plant in succession, so there is always something growing. Lettuce always grows so well in this greenhouse. It’s a real treat to have lettuce like this all year long. I always grow lots of varieties of lettuce, so I can share them with my daughter and her children.
I use spinach for my daily green juice. Spinach is an excellent source of vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, and a good source of manganese, magnesium, iron and vitamin B2.
The radish is an edible root vegetable of the Brassicaceae family. Radishes are grown and consumed throughout the world, and mostly eaten raw as a crunchy salad vegetable.
These are the leaves of turnips. The vegetables are not ready yet, but when harvesting, I always gently remove the surrounding earth first to see if the vegetables are big enough. If not, I push the soil back into place. Turnips are smooth flat, round and white vegetables that mature early and are best harvested young – when they are up to two inches in diameter. The flavor is sweet and fruity, and the texture is crisp and tender.
This is my bed of arugula, directly planted from seed a couple of weeks ago. Arugula leaves, also known as rocket or roquette, are tender and bite-sized with a tangy flavor.
One cannot miss the Swiss chard. They are so vibrant with stems of rose, gold, orange, and white. Chard has very nutritious leaves making it a popular addition to healthful diets.
Beets are sweet and tender – and one of the healthiest foods. Beets contain a unique source of phytonutrients called betalains, which provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and detoxification support.
And do you like dill, the herb grown for its aromatic leaves and seeds which are often used to add flavor to various dishes? It has a distinct anise-like taste and can be used fresh or dried.
I also have a bed of young cilantro, Coriandrum sativum, growing nicely. Cilantro is also known commonly as coriander or Chinese parsley. Coriander is actually the dried seed of cilantro. Cilantro is a popular micro-green garnish that complements meat, fish, poultry, noodle dishes, and soups. Everyone here at the farm loves the cilantro, but some don’t. Do you know… some even say it tastes like soap? For those, the issue is genetic. These people have a variation in a group of olfactory-receptor genes that allows them to strongly perceive the soapy-flavored aldehydes in cilantro leaves. Among those who strongly dislike cilantro – the late Chef Julia Child.
I also grow bok choi, a type of Chinese cabbage and widely used in Asian cuisines.
At one end of greenhouse, I set up bean towers from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. These can also support the growing vines of cucumbers.
After the soil is fertilized, Ryan digs the holes close to corners where developing vines can find the vertical strings stretched from top to bottom.
Ryan places one plant per section.
We used these 60-inch towers last year and they worked wonderfully.
Here, Ryan places heat mats down on the gravel floor for the tomato pots.
As an experiment, Ryan will keep potted tomatoes on top of the heat mats to keep them a bit warmer through the season. Let’s see how they do.
He fills the pots with Miracle-Gro All Purpose Garden Soil.
And then tops them with Miracle-Gro Shake ‘n Feed specifically for tomatoes and other growing vegetables.
He plants two per pot and will monitor to see which plants grow stronger. As they develop, he will remove those that seem weak and unproductive.
Finally, he secures a 48-inch tomato cage, also from Johnny’s Selected Seeds, on top of each container.
At 4pm exactly, all the grow lights turn on as scheduled. I am so pleased with my vegetable greenhouse and how productive it is every year. I am looking forward to a season filled with bountiful harvests.
I'm getting a lot of excellent wintertime pruning done at my farm.
Proper pruning is so important - it improves the health of the plants, prevents disease, and encourages better flowering. There are different pruning strategies for different times of the year, but overall the goals are the same - to control the height and shape, develop good limb structure, encourage growth, remove damaged or diseased branches, and to allow for better air circulation. Right now, my outdoor grounds crew is tackling four of my Sargent crabapples along the carriage road to my home.
Enjoy these photos.
The best time to prune is during the dormant season which is typically winter to early spring before new growth emerges.
These are two of four Sargent crabapple, Malus sargentii, in early April. The name of this species comes from the man who introduced it from its native Japan in 1892, C.S. Sargent. These are good trees for many different landscapes. It has a unique size and form, growing as a dense, mounded shrub rather than a tree.
Later in spring, they display fragrant white flowers.
In autumn, bright red to dark fruit can be seen among the leaves. They stay through the season and into winter.
The fruits are about a half-inch in diameter and are known to be tart and astringent in taste, attracting many birds, especially cedar waxwings, robins, grosbeaks, and mockingbirds.
Pasang Sherpa is an excellent pruner and oversees many of the smaller pruning projects around the farm. He focuses on the Ds of pruning and removes any dead, diseased, damaged, defective, or deranged branches.
All the pruning is done by hand. Pasang uses sharp hand pruners to cut low branches. It is crucial to use sharp blades to make clean, smooth cuts to reduce the risk of disease and infection.
When needed, my team also uses these STIHL loppers which feature a longer 28-inch handle made from lightweight aluminum. It is idea for cutting any tree branches up to two inches in diameter.
It is also smart and efficient to place a tarp under the work area to catch all the falling branches – it makes cleanup much faster later.
Here, one can see where the cuts were made. When pruning, the branches are always cut just above the bud or branch. This encourages new growth and helps the wounds heal more quickly.
These crabapples are pruned every year. Here are some older cuts.
Pasang also thins out crowded areas and works to maintain its balanced shape.
Alex works from the top making sure adequate light and circulation can move through the center of the specimen.
He also removes the upward growing branches called water sprouts. These are similar to root suckers that grow up from the ground – both draw nutrients and strength away from the plant and need removing.
As Alex works from the top, Pasang works from the bottom of the crabapples – it’s efficient and fast.
Look closely to see which side Alex pruned and which side he has yet to do.
Alex enjoys working with the trees and shrubs and does a great job. He and Pasang have already pruned more than a dozen different trees this week.
These Sargent crabapples have horizontal branching which helps create the dense mounded habit. Pruning them correctly will ensure they will continue to be healthy, productive, and beautiful.
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