Eggshell Seedling Starters

I saw these on Pinterest and thought they were so cute I just had to try them.
First I tried with the beans since I wanted something I can bury without disturbing the roots.
But sadly my beans just didn't want to grow so I had no success there.
I but didn't give up.
I ate more eggs and did some planted other things.
My broccoli and cabbage are germinating at about 75%.
Although I did the cabbage and broccoli on different weeks it seems like the amount of sun they can get on my window sill is making them grow at about the same speed now.

I'll probably get them into the ground as soon as I know the beans I transplanted are doing ok.
I'll be putting these in front of the beans :)

To use the egg shells as planters, I used a very sharp knife to poke a hole at one end.
Then I used that hole to create a small crack and lifted a small piece out. Then bit by bit I widen the hole. The egg will want to leak out at a certain point. You can try to pour it out when it first starts to leak but the hole is probably still too small for the yolk to come out without popping.
Best to pour a bit of the egg white and then continue to widen the hole until the size you want and the yolk will easily pour out.

I boiled the egg so it keeps longer.
Poke a hole through the bottom so water can drain through. If you don't, you'll have to be careful how you water.

When you are ready for transplanting, just squeeze the eggshell so it can break apart so your roots can push through the cracks even before it decomposes.
It makes transplanting very easy as you're not really disturbing the root :)

Try it out!!

Rabbits in my garden :(

Here's the before and after picture of the part of the garden that wasn't under the net.

Before the rabbit got to it

After the rabbits got to it...1 night was all it took

The rabbits had a buffet...
It ate all the leaves and left the stem. I'm leaving it in in  hopes that it'll grow back, but at this point in time I really don't know what might happen. It was just transplanted so it's sensitive...and for the rabbit to eat all the leaves, it might be too much for the plant to handle.

Close up of the damage

Sigh, I'm so sad. I hope it'll grow back. I was so excited with so many seedlings, now I might not have anything :(

Since beans eventually will climb, I'm not sure what to do. I can't keep a netting over it forever. It was actually getting ready to climb soon so I need to get it out.
I have to figure out a way to block the rabbits from getting at it but still allow it to climb.
Any suggestions?
I have more pole beans planted and they're just starting to sprout. So it'll eventually get to this stage and I can't let the rabbit eat it too.

Me vs Chipmunk

What do you know, the first night I leave the polytunnel cover off, the next morning I find holes all over my little garden.
I swear it's that chipmunk I've seen around. I've found it guilty in my chayote pot when I was hardening the plant. It doesn't eat the arugula but it's digging up the garden and it ate my bean seeds. :(
I have no idea how it knew where I planted the seeds.
Those dents you see in the photo above is from the chipmunk digging. There were some deeper holes and it even got into my eggplant pot that I put outside for more sun. The funny thing is, it didn't eat the seedling, just dug up everything around it and pushed the seedling over......I don't understand at all. I just hope my eggplant will survive cause it just popped up! It doesn't even have true leaves yet and the chipmunk got to it.

So this is what I'm trying to fight against the chipmunk.
I brought this "bird" cover which is basically just netting and I'm putting it over a section of the garden that have low growing items. I'm using the same hoops I used for polytunnel for the netting. I've had the netting up for 4 days and I haven't found any new holes. I think it's discouraging the chipmunk for the time being. I really hope it doesn't figure out how to get in to give my seeds a chance to grow.

So apparently I had 1 seed that survived the chipmunk raid.
It just popped up today so I hope it'll continue to grow.

I also transplanted the beans my mom's friend gave me. She gave me so many, I hope a good amount of them will survive the transplant since I've been told beans don't like to be transplanted. My fingers are crossed. I don't know how she got them to grow so well in the small space when the peas I planted indoors before the transplant were so weak!! The roots on these are so much more developed then the pea I had indoors. These are outside of the netting, I hope the chipmunk will leave them alone.

And here are the peas.
The right one was from indoors and the left one was direct sow. Such a big difference. The direct sow can stand on it's own even though it's much taller now. The leaves are bigger and the stem is stronger. The transplant is floppy and requires support to help it stay up.
I wonder how much light I need indoors in order for the seedling to grow better. I can't imagine the glass to block light that stops plants from growing when people build green houses out of glass.
At this point in time I'm pretty stumped.

I hope the peas will get taller soon to start climbing the trellis. The higher it climbs the more sunlight it'll get.

Base White Fungus Soup

This is the base soup for white fungus. By adding in other veggies and fruits it'll modify the flavour and make it sweeter. Depending on the fruits/veggies you used, you can interchange figs with red dates and honey dates and pork bone vs chicken.
For the base soup, I specifically use pork neck bone because I found that pork back bone or chicken shell is not enough flavour. Since this is very basic with very little ingredients, the base is very important. Pork neck gives a lot of flavour and will help make your soup richer.
If you want to use chicken, you'll have to use several shells OR buy a mature chicken to use for the soup.

This is pretty much the bare minimum I would put into the white fungus soup. That's why I call this the Base White Fungus soup.

I'll post other variations of it later. :)

Base White Fungus Soup

Ingredients

• 1 White Fungus
• 5 - 7 Dried Fig
• 1/4 cup Apricot Seed mix (1:3 ratio for north 北杏 and south apricot 南杏 seeds)
• 1lbs of Pork Neck Bones
• 4L of water
• 1 tsp salt

Directions

1. Soak the white fungus for half an hour to an hour to soften and wash.
2. Rinse the apricot seed and the figs.
3. Cut all the figs horizontally in half so more flavour can escape into the soup when you cook it.
4. Pre-treat your pork bone by blanching it for 5 mins and washing the bones after the blanch.
5. Once the white fungus is soft enough to wash, gently wash any dirty that may be trapped.
6. Use a knife to dig out connections.
7. You can cut the white fungus into 4 pieces before you boil it or cook it whole and break it into pieces to eat when you're about to drink the soup.
8. Bring the water to a boil.
9. Add in the pork bones and bring the water back to a boil.
10. Throw in the apricot seed, figs and white fungus.
11. Once the water is back up to a boil, bring the heat to low or medium low (depending on your stove) so that it's at a soft boil. Let it cook for 1.5 hrs.
12. Add your salt, stir and you're done :)

May 20th Garden Update

It's finally the May two-four weekend, the big gardening weekend in Ontario where everyone goes out to buy things for their garden and get started on it this.
Why is this the big gardening weekend? Well, last weekend we got a sudden drop in temperature and it even flurried a little in the city. So anything that really doesn't like the cold and wasn't properly protected would have KOed.

I was very lucky to be able to build the mini hoop tunnel to start my season a month earlier so I can start enjoying the lettuce while other people are just getting started. Probably an important thing too since the hours of sunlight is affecting the rate of which my plants are growing.

One thing I noticed is that due to the 3-4 hours of sunlight the garden gets, the days to maturity seem to be off based on what's on the package. The first set of lettuce to be fully mature by now, but it just started getting bushier.

Same with the Sugar Snap Peas that are supposed to nature around 40 to 50 days. It looks way behind schedule. I'm hoping the peas will grow faster as it grows taller as it may get an hour more sunlight then the ground level plants.

An other thing I noticed is that the pea I transplanted seems weaker then the one I directly sowed.
The leaves are smaller and the vine is thinner as well. I have a hard time figuring out if this is due to the transplant or the fact that there was little light. Or the sunlight is affected by glass as I was trying to use sunlight to start the seedling. I'm surprised because the side garden only has 3-4 hours of sunlight which is about the same as my window sill so I'm not sure why the direct sow one is better.
I just hope both will continue to grow and get better.
I want peas and for it to help feed the soil.

This is also the weekend I'll wash and put away the frost blanket and the plastic cover for the mini tunnel as it shouldn't be necessary anymore.
I'll also be sowing and transplanting additional items.
I need to build that trellis for the Chyote because I don't want it taking over the fence. Initially I was going to let it grow on the fence but after reading about how it takes over and climbs everywhere, I decided it needs to be contained on it's own.

At least I won't be battling it out at the nurseries since I have almost everything I need for the year :)
Happy gardening weekend.

Seeds vs Seedlings

This is probably the most common question beginner gardeners have. Should they buy seeds or should they buy seedlings.
Both have their pros and cons.
At a very high level, seeds have more variety and they cost less but are they are also riskier as it can be harder to grow. It can also be discouraging for beginners like myself when germination rate is low.
Seedlings on the other hand can cost $2-$5 per seedling depending on the plant, but if you transplant them carefully, they're almost guarantee to grow.

Honestly, for first year gardening, I didn't want to spend a lot of money on something I wasn't sure about. So this is how I went about getting seeds for cheap or for free!

1. Buy off season!
Urban Harvest has a pop up store from April until late June. Last year, I found them and went their last week when they were having a closing sale. I got seeds at half price! So pay attention to off season nursery sales or the weekly sales.
2. Asking family and friends - I got 2 Chayote plants from my aunt in law, my brother in law gave me some random seeds, my mom's friend is giving me a string bean plant. This is a great kick start to my little garden
3. Trading at Seedy Saturday/Sunday events - Google the words Seedy Saturday or Seedy Sunday and your location. You may find some local seed trading events where you can potentially buy home grown seeds for a cheaper price if you don't have anything to trade yet.
4. Seed Libraries!
I'm very grateful to the Markham's Seed Library and the Toronto Seed Library.

I first learned about Seed Libraries when I saw a weird display at the Milliken Mills Library several years ago. They were just starting out and only had 4 different types of seeds. I was wondering what they were doing so I searched it up and it turns out this initiative is part of Markham's sustainability plan. The idea is that everyone should have access to fresh food.
The Toronto Seed Library was founded before Markham's but their vision is also around food sustainability. The Toronto one is not run by the Toronto Public Library so there's no need for a library card to sign out seeds.

I loved the idea of borrowing, growing and giving back into the library.
I also found this to be a great way to try out new food (if it grows properly) relatively risk free. If I had to buy everything I wanted to try to grow, I would never try anything new.

The Markham seed collection has really grown this year. There's a lot more choices but they still run out very fast so you have to be really on the look out every week to see what they have.
I found that the 2 locations in Toronto I visited had a wide variety of choices and had more items on hand then the Markham ones.

If you're in Markham, definitely check out Milliken Mills Library or Cornell Library for the seed library.
Toronto has 20 active locations which all carries slightly different items, so be sure to check out the latest place near you.

Really excited to try these different seeds.
I'm so surprised to learn that Tatsoi is an Asian veggie and it looks so much like a Bak Choy but I've never had it before O_O
I hope it grows well so I can try it :)
I plan on planting that in late summer for fall/winter harvest since it seems to do well in the cold.

Braised Pork with Preserved Mustard (梅菜猪肉)

I remember the first time my dad made this dish, I was very very skeptical of the preserved veggie. But after tasting it, I was hooked.
He use to make this with pork belly, but I've discovered that pork picnic shoulder can be used as well for a leaner choice. It's not as soft as pork belly, but when braised, it'll fall apart like pulled pork. Just not as moist. But since it's braised, when you eat it in the liquid it's quite good.
It's easier to cook as well since you don't have to precook it like you do pork belly to cook out some of the oil.

Also, it's honestly better prepared in advance so it can sit and the flavours have more time to meld together. So you can cook this at night, leave it overnight and throw it in the fridge the next morning. Then skim the oil before you reheat to eat.

All you need is a big pot to throw everything in. Once the pork is soft it's ready to eat.

Braised Pork with Preserved Mustard (梅菜猪肉)

Ingredients

• 1 bag of Preserved Mustard 梅菜
• 1 Pork Picnic Shoulder
• 1 big chunk of Rock Sugar
• 2 tbsp of Soy Sauce
• 1 cm thick block of ginger, sliced
• water

Directions

1. Use a bowl to wash the preserved mustard. You will want to go through several bowls of water to wash off the dirt and as much salt as possible. The picture to the right is after 4 bowls of water. The first bowl is quite scary to look at.
2. Once it's all washed, cut the veggie. I cut them into 4in long pieces.
3. Wash your pork and cut the pork into chunks. The smaller the chunks the faster it'll cook. So pending on how much time, you can decide how big to cut it.
4. Slice your ginger.
5. In a pot, heat up 1/3 pot of water until boiling.
6. Add the soy sauce, sugar and ginger.
7. Add the pork and vegetable. 
8. Add more water so that it just covers everything in the pot.
9. Bring to a boil. Keep the pot at a soft boil until the meat is soft and cooked.
10. Then it's ready to eat or save until the next day. The flavour gets better and better when it has more time to sit and meld .:)

May 9th Garden Update

As you can probably tell by now, I'm so excited with my first year garden.
I think gardening posts might take over my blog.
Temperature right now is still around 3 degrees at overnight.
During the day it reaches the mid teens.
So it actually gets quite warm and can be steamy inside the polytunnel during the day.
I've started to lift the tunnel during the day to vent it so I don't cook anything.
On days I work from home, I wait until the sun is shining on the space to uncover completely.
On days I'm not at home, I try to uncover just a bit on a day where temperature varies or I take it completely off on a day where I know it'll be hot. Still need to use it over night, but I should be able to pack the frost blanket away now after I wash it next weekend.

A week seems to make an impact on the growth of things.
The first row of lettuce I sowed in mid April is starting to sprout it's real leaves this week.
The things I sowed on April 24th is starting to pop up.
The most noticeable is the second row of lettuce at the bottom of the picture to the left.

The carrots and beats are slowly coming. I'm still having a hard time figuring out if something was from the garden previously or my seeds in the areas I've been planting. I'm pretty sure I accidentally pulled out a beet seedling today...oops.

There's also something growing that seems suspiciously like bean sprouts. It's almost like some of the beans I used last year as fertilizer is actually growing...which is weird cause what I brought should have been boiled and blended up....so I'm at a complete what these are and where they came from.

The sugar snap pea is growing much slower then I had hoped.
In the picture below, the one to the right is the one that was transplanted. It's only grown an inch since it was transplanted.
The little bud on the left of the picture is the seed I directly sowed. It looks like it is starting to come up. So if this works out nicely, I'll have one plant after the other giving me peas :)

I'll probably transplant some more this week and try to start up some more seeds indoors.

Baking Bread - Dried Milk vs Fresh Milk

I love the smell of fresh bread. I especially like crusty bread but when I want the loaf to last an entire week, I prefer making a soft bread.
When I make soft bread, I add in milk, butter and honey.

Milk is a tricky ingredient to use in bread making. I noticed that bread recipes usually call for powdered milk and not fresh milk. I always wondered why. After some research, I found that there's an enzyme in milk that affects the gluten and weakens the bonds.
But, if you boiled the milk it should deactivate the enzyme and your bread should be bigger.

I decided to put it to the test. (Sorry I forgot to take pictures of the other bread)
With milk, I found that it can be a hit or a miss. If I didn't boil it enough it can cause the volume to be smaller. But sometimes it also rises to the amount I want but with bigger gaps inside the bread.

For the last couple of loaves, I used dried buttermilk powder. I found that it rises more consistently and the volume of the bread is generally bigger then the bread make with fresh milk.

I chose buttermilk because it was the "dried" version and not the "instant" version.
Instant milk isn't heated as hot so it may or may not have the enzyme still active.
Dried milk may not be available at the grocery stores. You'll usually find instant milk there rather then dried milk. You can find dried milk online or if you're lucky, there's a local baking goods store that carries it.

When I was looking for dried milk, I found Medallion Milk in Canada.
I emailed Medallion to see if they have any local stores that carries their product they informed me that Bulk Barn carries it. I was very lucky to have someone local that carries dried milk and not just instant so I can use it for my breads. Bulk Barn had dried buttermilk or instant skim milk so I grabbed the buttermilk powder.

I found that using buttermilk added a little sour smell but the flavour is wonderful.
I'll definitely be using the buttermilk powder going forth.

Happy baking.

Green Bean, Lily Bulb and Red Date Soup

Here's another easy basic soup.
Honestly most soups will have 4-5 ingredients as base with lots of optional things you can add for flavour and other goodness.

This particular one is simple and pretty mellow tasting. The green bean is considered to be "cold" so for sweetness, instead of honey date or logan fruit, I use red dates to balance out the "cold".

Green Bean, Lily Bulb and Red Date Soup

Ingredients

• 40g Green Beans
• 30g Lily Bulb 百合
• 5 large or 10 small Red Dates 
• 1 Tangerine Peel 果皮
• 1 lbs of Pork Bone
• 4-5 L of water
• Salt to taste

Directions

1. If your pork bone is not pre-blanched and you like to have your soup clear, quickly blanch the pork bones in boiling water for 5 mins, then wash the pork bone.
2. Rinse the green beans, lily bulb and red dates.
3. Soak the tangerine peel in water and scrap off some of the whites when it's soft.
4. Heat 4 L of water in a large pot.
5. Once the water is boiling, add the pork bone.
6. When it comes back to a rolling boil, add the green beans, lily bulb, red dates and tangerine peel.
7. Drop the heat down to a soft boil and let it cook for 1.5 hours. Check the soup once in a while to make sure it's still softly boiling to make sure you're not over or under cooking the soup.
8. At the end of the 1.5 hours, add salt if you wish. Stir and turn off the heat.
9. Skim the fat and you're good to go.

Enjoy!

First Transplant of the season

I swear mother nature loves messing with gardeners up north.
For the last 2 weeks it was in the warm teens, and right after I transplant my sugar snap pea seedling it drops to freezing for several days.... :(
I'm hoping it'll still be ok with the polytunnel to help keep the soil warm enough that the plant will be ok.
I would have liked to wait a little longer before I transplanted it but for the last 2 weeks the peas haven't grown indoors, so I decided to bite the bullet and transplant it now. So fingers crossed for the next week to see how it grows.

Hopefully it will grow better and bear fruit before May two-four weekend. Since sugar snap peas like cooler climate, I was hoping to finish harvesting it by then and swap places with the Chayote which needs warm climate to grow in.

The lettuce I have seeded 2 weeks ago seemed to be doing well before the cold hit.
Cute little seedlings right now. Once again fingers crossed the cold doesn't kill it. When I took a peak again today, seems like a couple of the sprouts are starting to show true leaves :)
The new row of lettuce I seeded last week haven't sprouted yet at all. So maybe the frost killed that row. I'll have to monitor and see before I try to reseed it so I don't overdo that row.

I still struggle with hours of sunlight in the side garden. 3 hours of sunlight is hard on plants.
I think it'll hit peak 4 hours of sunlight in June/July. So those 2 months will be my key growing season.

I better do more indoor seedlings to be ready for it.

I think after this year, I'll probably only do climbing type and lettuce types of plants in the side garden.
Climbing can get a little bit more sun as higher up on the fence gets sun earlier then the ground level.
Lettuce should be ok with partial sun so....that's probably my plan going forward.
If things go well, I'll dig out the trees from the back raised garden and plant there as well for things that need full sun as that patch gets full sun.
Hopefully things will grow yummy enough to convince my husband to help me dig out the trees so I can plant there too :)