Mundelein, IL to discuss allowing sustainable practices.

 UPDATE: since this blog post was made, the trustees have proposed the seperation of the BYC ordinances from the other sustainable measures to be discussed on 7/25.  Therefore, depending on what the trustees decide on 7/23, any of what is posted below may not be discussed at all on the 7/25 planning commission meeting.


If you were planning to come to the 7/25 meeting in support of any of these measures, please susbscribe and further notice will be given as it is known. 




The Village trustees have decided to have open forum on whether the Planning Commission should allow residents of Mundelein several new sustainable city planning ideas.  These include: apiaries (bee hives), wind farms, backyard chickens, and urban farming among other sustainability practices.

There has been quite a bit of heated debate among our own trustees on whether to allow some of these measures.  I understand their concerns.  I'm sure the people who first introduced recycling ran into push back, and push back.  The trustees in their ambivalence have decided to allow the public to influence the decisions of the planning commission, and then the end result of what the planning commission compiles will be voted on by the trustees on a future date.

I just wanted to touch on the apiaries(bee hives) and backyard chickens for a moment, since they are the ones the trustees couldn't agree on, when I went to observe an earlier meeting. They were split 50-50.

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Apiaries: 

While I am neither for nor against apiaries, I truly do understand the reasoning for them in sustainable city planning.  There is a huge problem going on.  Just do a quick search for "colony collapse disorder", and the results are more alarming than zombie apocalypse.

Häagen-Dazs ice cream has a "save our bees" campaign 

This is a video from 2007, and the narrator says "you may not have heard much about it, but you will".
It is now 2012, and some still have not heard of colony collapse disorder. 

I am unsettled by this very real fact that honeybees are dying all around the world at a shocking rate,

and without some help on our end, we could be facing some very scary food shortages from lack

 of pollination.

In response:

The Waldorf Astoria is now cultivating bees in their densely populated new york roof.
Towns and villages are changing ordinances to allow them for the greater good of protecting our food supply.
The city of Chicago is very densely populated, and they are encouraging people to build and maintain apiaries. 

UPDATE: since this blog post was made, the trustees have proposed the seperation of the BYC ordinances from the other sustainable measures to be discussed on 7/25.  Therefore, depending on what the trustees decide on 7/23, any of what is posted below may not be discussed at all on the 7/25 planning commission meeting.

If you were planning to come to the 7/25 meeting in support of any of these measures, please susbscribe and further notice will be given as it is known.

Backyard Chickens:
As readers of my blog know, I am partial to having backyard chickens.  

Listed below are the most common concerns voiced by people against having pet chickens.

I've tried my best to include facts, and sources.

Myth:  Chickens are noisy.

Facts:  The main rule for keeping urban chickens is “NO ROOSTERS ALLOWED.”  Hens do not make a ruckus in the morning like their male counterparts and they are fast asleep in their coop by the 

time the sun goes down. (As you probably know, hens do lay eggs 

without the aid of a rooster.) Hens make a soft clucking noise 

that is less noisy than a barking dog or a leaf blower.

Myth:  Chickens are messy and smelly.

Facts:  Chickens themselves do not smell. This is a fact.  It is only 

their feces that has the potential to smell which is also true of feces 

from dogs, cats, rabbits or any other animal that is outside. 

A 4-pound laying hen produces 0.0035 cu ft of manure per day.  According to FDA, an average dog generates ¾ of a pound of manure a 

day that cannot be composted because of the harmful bacteria and 

parasites (hookworms, roundworms and tapeworms) that can infect 

humans. This waste is considered a major source of bacterial pollution

in urban watersheds.  Source:  http://www.pacshell.org/projects/petwasteinfo.htm#facts. 

The reason people fear an odor problem is because their only experience with chickens, if they have any at all, is on a farm or commercial poultry operation. Under these circumstances, hundreds if not thousands of chickens are sometimes kept in crowded conditions with poor ventilation and without proper cleaning.  As a result, ammonia can build up and these facilities can stink.  There is a huge difference between these environments and the the very popular and rapidly growing sustainable backyard chicken movement.  

Myth:  Chickens attract rodents/predators. 

Facts:  The truth is that rodents already exist everywhere, and are attracted to any unprotected food source like bird seed, dog food, cat food, open trash cans, fruit trees, and even koi ponds.  There are preventative measures (chicken feed containers and coop designs) to nearly eliminate this concern.

Myth:  Backyard chickens will decrease property value. 

Facts: There is absolutely no evidence that keeping pet hens within 

the ordinance guidelines would have any affect on property values.  This is property rights issue and while it is necessary to protect neighbors from any potential nuisance, homeowners should have as much freedom as possible with minimal government interference.  If property values decreased with backyard chicken keeping, why would major cities like Atlanta, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Madison, WI, Denver, support backyard chicken keeping?

Urban chicken keepers, like all good pet owners, are concerned about how their chickens might be affecting their neighborhood. They want their chickens to be a positive experience for everyone and they make 

an effort to keep an open dialog with their immediate neighbors to ensure any concerns or issues are addressed. The American Poultry Association advises that the rights of neighbors must be considered 

when raising chickens in the city, and that structures and materials  used should blend into the neighborhood’s existing structures. Chickens can be kept in a yard so inconspicuously, that it may not be apparent that chickens are even around. There are eggs to share, and a chicken coop in the neighborhood can actually be a conversation starter, and thus it can enhance a neighborhood community.

Myth:  Chickens will create a health hazard.

Facts:   In the US,  there is no need at present to remove a flock of 

chickens because of concerns regarding avian influenza. The U.S. 

Department of Agriculture monitors potential infection of poultry 

and poultry products by avian influenza viruses and other infectious 

disease agents.

H5N1 virus (Avian Flu) does not usually infect people, but since November 2003, 

nearly 400 cases of human infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza A 

(H5N1) viruses have been reported by more than a dozen countries in Asia, Africa, 

the Pacific, Europe and the Near East. Highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) 

viruses have NEVER been detected among wild birds, domestic poultry, or people in 

the United States.  Source: www.cdc.gov/flu/avian/

Research shows more diseases can be spread from dogs and cats than from chickens.

Dogs and cats can spread parasites, bacteria, fungi and viruses to humans. Rabies,Cat Scratch Fever, ringworm,Roundworm, hookworm, tapeworm and Giardia intestinal are intestinal parasites that can be passed to humans from pet waste.  There are also a number of tick-borne diseases that can be brought home from dogs and cats like Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Chickens can actually keep your yard healthier because they eat ticks and insects. 

Myth:  Backyard Chicken Keeping is a fad.

Facts:  Chickens have been domesticated since 10,000 BC and have 

played an important part of life ever since. Many of our grandparents 

had victory gardens and knew how to grow vegetables, can food, and 

raised their own chickens. 

Raising hens in the backyard is a tremendous opportunity for parents to teach their children about the responsibility that comes with caring for a pet and because of their small size and friendly demeanor, young children can easily handle hens without the fear of being bitten.  

Why are backyard chickens so controversial?

http://news.change.org/stories/why-are-backyard-chickens-so-controversial

Backyard chicken keeping requires extensive planning and preparation. You can’t just go to the pet store to get chickens like a dog or cat or any other pet.  It takes a great deal of time to conduct all the research, build a coop, acquire all the necessary feeding and watering supplies and then to finally get the chickens themselves.  

(all myths and facts were from this PDF: Backyard chickens - Common Myths)

Now that those concerns are out of the way, why do people want them as pets?  To try and keep the answer short and sweet, mankind has always lived with the help of animals.  In the chicken's case, they would eat food scraps, produce poop that fertilizes plants, lay eggs, and provide meat (backyard chickens are no-slaughter within the village).  Back yard flocks are smaller than the farmers had in the past, but then again - so is the land the people are on. According to the proposed ordinances, the chickens must stay in their coop and runs, so it is the equivalent of having a rabbit in a backyard hutch.

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It is an interesting time to be meandering about on this earth.  We are understanding the consequences of our actions, and taking measures and planning to stop harming our living conditions.   Fear of the unknown could be calmed by knowledge, and facts, but only if there is mutual respect and an environment fostering communication.  

My personal belief is: the sustainable city planners that we hired are the experts.  If we paid them for expertise, why not listen to them?  My hope is that these measures all pass in some way, with regulations and ordinance guidelines.  I've always been an advocate for the greater good.  Sometimes it's harder to do the right thing than to "do it the way we've always done it".

Hopefully, I will see you on the 25th, 

and a big thank you to the village of Mundelein for even considering these new measures.  :-)

 For a list of all the new zoning changes, and considerations by camiros city planners, click here: http://www.mundelein.org/pdfs/2012/Zon_Ord_Pub_Hear_07_25_12.pdf

Advocating for Backyard Chickens Part 1

While volunteering for a local sustainability expo for villages and townships, I found out someone in my village had brought up backyard chickens with my village.  I was surprised... really surprised. At first I was a little disappointed that it wasn't me who brought it up to the village first, but knowing myself I honestly wouldn't have. I've always been called to greatness it one way or another. People who want interviews for newspapers, once even the Rosie O'Donnell show called me, but I was hesitant.  I've never been one to bask in that lifestyle.  One slip up on my behalf, and a whole movement goes south. This includes when I did an internship for Daewoo Automotive and their launch in the USA. Newsweek called me to interview, and my lack of self confidence was probably obvious through the phone.  I even so far as told them other interns might be better to interview. Front yard gardening is something I had to consider for more than two years before I started to lift my shovel, because if I did it wrong - the whole community might pass an ordinance against it.  Maybe it's just in my nature.  However, I've decided within the last year that it's about time I stop denying the "calls to greatness", and start living life this is the only life I'm going to live. LOL

I was soon overcome with the realization that I would have to join forces with whomever it was and help them on their way!  WAIT! WHOMEVER YOU ARE!!! THERE IS SUPPORT IN THE COMMUNITY!!!  I recalled back to all the other towns I've watched.  I've waited, and seen some succeed and some fail...  In all the ones that failed, the advocate may have pushed too hard.

I kept in contact with the Village Assistant Administrator Michael Flynn, and he told me what date and time the next village meeting was, and advice:

 " Send the Mayor and Board a letter supporting the allowance of chickens on residential property, explaining why you feel this is a good idea and would not be disruptive to the neighborhood.  Also include any specific comments to the proposed regulations.  This will give them advance notice that there is support for this idea.  Then come to the meeting on Monday,  June 11^th and comment in person.  It is always more effective if the Board sees and hears a well-spoken advocate explain their position. "

I Posted in Backyard Chicken facebook pages, and an online community at backyardchickens.com in addition to making a public facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/168383973292571/

I typed up a little ditty and had my friend Tony revise it with me, so it could clearly state a THANK YOU to the village for considering it, and why the village should allow it, pros, cons, etc.    I even worked a little with the sustainable city planning consultant the village hired. To my surprise, she already had proposed wording for backyard chickens and beehives in my village.   ....TOOOOOOO FREAKIN COOL.

A few of my friend showed up with me that night wearing our chicken campaign sticker, and I went up to the mic trembling:

not the most flattering image of me, LOL but I'll take it!

 Here's the wording I used in my letter which I gave a copy to all Village board members present:

(btw the lady in the background was possibly my fave)

Monday, June 11, 2012

To my village representatives:

Hi, my name is Holly Kim. I'm the Marketing Manager at the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Healthcare, and a mom of three. I’m here to encourage you for considering Backyard Chickens.

Since I've moved to Mundelein, several friends have also moved here. We love it… it's quiet, and safe. There are outstanding bakeries, delicious restaurants, award winning pizza, and a buzzing farmer's market that started last spring (btw Aurelia Spicuzza deserves kudos for her excellent job of rounding up volunteers). We’ve also noticed a brewery opened up here, and they just held a beer tasting last weekend. Yes, Vernon hills may have a bunch of malls and chain restaurants, but we notice and prefer the authenticity and care of ma and pa stores. As the downtown is being built, Mundelein can be known as a nexus of independent bakeries and restaurants. What a draw to join the community in Mundelein!

Well, anyway…You're at a convergence of time where you're about to make zoning changes that will affect the future of people living in, and moving to Mundelein. Back Yard Chicken enthusiasts and their supporters are a group of people, including families who are intelligent, eco conscious, financially responsible, have pride in home ownership, and love for community and neighbors. Just within the last year, my friends and I have thrown a chili cook-off where a portion of proceeds go to scholarships for the area high school seniors. We’ve held a bicycle safety day free to the community through the volunteer group, the Jaycees. We’ve even helped out at the Loch Lomond fishing derby. You’ve seen our faces. We love giving back to the community. So, as you know, we are definitely not the Beverly Hillbillies!

Allowing backyard chickens will build a good resident community in Mundelein of responsible and educated adults who raise responsible and educated children that love their neighbors as themselves. Knowing that, who wouldn’t want to live here?

I know you're worried about people being irresponsible. People are always going to be people, but that's why BYCers also consider ordinances. Nuisance animal ordinances already cover smell, unsightliness, and noise. Here are some common concerns:• What about roosters? – in Backyard Chickens, there are NO ROOSTERS ALLOWED!!

• What if someone has 50 chickens in their backyard? Well, BYC has to come with policies such as maximum of 4 or 6 (as Evanston has decided).

• What if people have smelly or loud chickens? Then have a ticket written up!

I also do not want to live by something that smells horrible, or is crazy loud. Responsible pet owners are responsible. That’s why we have ordinances!! I will freely say BYC aren’t for everyone nor should it be. Pet potbellied pigs ARE allowed in Mundelein, but truly how many families have them? Not everyone wants a pet pig, and along those lines, not everyone will want to raise chickens.

The Botanic gardens recently had a “Chickens in the Garden” session, and it was completely sold out. Month of May, Williams Sonoma started an agrarian section to their website selling coops, and even Walmart started selling coops! It makes sense as a win-win-win. We reduce food scraps going to landfills, the chickens give us rich delicious eggs with beautiful orange yolks that my kids love, and the poop is high in nitrogen for composting to use in the garden.

Your consultant Arista Strungys has created proposed regulations as part of the new zoning for Mundelein, which would allow backyard chickens, and the company you hired for city planning CAMIROS comes with a background in knowledge and research in long term eco conscious efforts, and sustainable practices. They are the experts, and know this is more than just people who want a fancy pet. The movement transcends political parties, ethnic backgrounds, and ages. In the past, self-sufficiency was encouraged by our government. It was even our civic duty to have chickens to be considerate of our resources, and waste.

In conclusion, this is something that can be well regulated. There are existing nuisance animal ordinances that already cover smell, unsightliness, and noise. This is a part of a growing movement of long term sustainability and stewardship, and will draw a growing number of really good people, and families who are looking for a community like this to move into. You’re doing the right thing by considering it.

For all the reasons above, my friends and I who are local residents would be in favor of this, and ask you to please pass the proposal for backyard chickens in Mundelein.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Holly Kim

Certificates and Credibility:

In the process of receiving a Conseration@home certificate

Member of MidfEx (Midwest fruit explorers)

Horticulture lab assistant in high school

Northbrook Garden club scholarship recipient

Studied Permaculture and self-sufficiency

Edible Landscape Blogger

Urban Homesteading Blogger

Runs two facebook pages: Edible Landscaping Chicago and Urban Homesteading Chicago

Kids are in 4-H

Volunteer and board member for the Jaycees for the last 5 years

Volunteer in community for Mundelein and Loch Lomond

Local densely populated Illinois towns/villages/cities that do allow backyard chickens:

Chicago

Oak Park

Evanston

Naperville Saint Charles

Warrenville

Downer's Grove

West Dundee

List of Major US Cities and local states that allow urban hens:

http://billingsbackyardhens.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/major-us-cities-and-nearby-states-allowing-

urban-hens/

To  my surprise, the board seemed receptive, and I was told later that backyard chickens was something they had been kicking around, themselves.   This was a plot twist I never expected...
It was all positive vibes, and I will be planning our next steps to getting Backyard Chickens passed in Mundelein. 

Vive la Revolucion! 

Garden Plants Out of Food Scraps

We've been so well trained to not even realize what we are doing: paying other people for food, and throwing away the ways to get more of that food.   

For the last few years, out of sheer laziness, I have serendipitously found several plants that can be propagated or resurrected back to usefulness out of food scraps. In theory, you've already paid once for this, no need to pay money again for seeds or plants of things you already have! 

If you have any to add, please do in the comments section.  Knowledge is power!

Basil, Thai basil, Mint (haven't tried with oregano, but am certain it will apply)
I bought a basil plant from the grocery store. It had three plants in a small pot, and I cut those thee plants in half to use the leaves in a recipe.  After picking off the basil leaves, I placed the three stems into a glass bottle with only tap water.  Sort of like what you do for cut flowers, except I put it up on a window ledge that gets lots of sun.

Wait a few weeks, and voila, the roots came out of nowhere!  With only the magic of water!
I think the warming up of the water by the sun had something to do with it, too!
But as you can see, now I have 6 plants instead of only 3 to plant outside my garden.

Various stages of root development.

Re-growing Celery from Middles
I am not sure why, but throughout my whole life, I don't recall eating celery hearts. Once we ate all the crunchy outer stalks I'm sure by the time we got to the nub of the middle with the bendy blanched sad center, we pitched it.  Well, this too is a grand mistake for the veggie gardener!

You can place that sorry looking middle nub with baby stalks  into a glass of water and place it on a sunny windowsill.   Within a week or so, you will not only see that middle stem beef up, but it will grow roots.   At this point, you can plant it into the ground, and grow celery for the season.    YEAH BABY!

Pineapple Stems

This, I wasn't the best at.  For some reason it took me seven pineapple tops before I got one of them to root, but I have a friend who does this with insane success!
After eating a pineapple, remove any meat from the top, and place in a cup of water.   I tried this a few times and failed, so mine (above) looks sad, but is coming back to life. This one, I had sitting in a pot of vermiculite.     I have another one that is doing very well, which I just threw into a pot of an existing plant and left it for dead.   Plants. They silly!

Here is my friend's pineapple top which he put into a plastic cup for amazing success. As you can see, no meat left on the pineapple top, or it WILL turn rotten!

At this point, you can plant it in soil.   Two of my friends who have done this, were able to grow another pineapple from it.  :)

Cabbage, Broccoli, Chinese broccoli/ etc Brassica stems

Now, this... This is a surprise for even me.  We had slices of some sort of brassica's stem.
I was most likely being lazy and instead of putting it into the compost bin, I put it into the garden during the winter.   Well, if that don't beat all... it grows back.   And it wasn't just that one freak accident, there is a second slice of stem growing in my garden, too.

What these brassicas are, I have yet to figure, because it was a crosswise cut of the stem.

Citrus, Pomegranate, Mangoes, and Avocados- seeds

My kids and I have been successful in replanting lemon, orange, and tangerine seeds in vermiculite.  Avocado-sitting on a jar of water with toothpicks through it, and Mango seeds which have been dried for a few days, and then planted into a pot of dirt.

 However, these adventures must be taken with an acceptance of wildcard, because the fruits you get from the grocery store are mostly genetically criss-crossed. Therefore, what we are growing from seeds makes really nice houseplants, but nothing more.  In fact many of them have not flowered in the 5+ years we have owned these plants.   The avocado flowered once, but without a pollinator it just had it's glory moment and fizzled away.  HOWEVER, that being said, they are glorious houseplants we receive compliments on, and give a nice tropical flair to this Chicago home.  Especially on the deck in the summer!

Sprouted potatoes/garlic
Sprouted potatoes can be planted whole, or you can just snap off the sprouted eyes.  Either will grow.
Sprouted garlic cloves can be placed into the ground, and in about a year  you will have a whole head of garlic!

Tomatoes and Peppers - seeds 
 If you buy an heirloom tomato from the store, a farmers market, or receive one from a friend, after chopping it up into something delicious, swipe the cutting board with a napkin to pick up the seeds. dry the napkin somewhere for a few days, and voila you've got tomato seeds for your garden! Cut up the napkin in small napkin chits to plant one by one, or if you don't care, plant the whole napkin. BOOYAH... 
If you repeat this cycle, you'll never have to buy tomato plants/seeds ever again.

Actually, if you try the experiments listed above, you'll never have to buy additional seeds and plants for the listed items you've already eaten! Reducing, reusing and recycling? Re-purposing?

At he very least, you're guaranteed to save money and come to a realization of how much we take for granted and throw away on a daily basis.

Making Spicy Korean kimchi out of Dandelions

Hey all, so- as promised, here's the steps to making really really yummy kimchi out of your dandelions.

In this picture, my mom is cutting the bigger dandelions in half.  We washed it a few times, and cleaned them (yes, even though we did that already at my house).  It took me a week to amass four large bags of dandelions and during that time, some of the baby leaves have turned brown.

Here we moved location into the sun, and I told my mom "I need to have my foot present in a photo so my readers don't think I'm just making my poor mother do all this work".  Her reaction :)

Okay there it is! all cleaned and slightly damp from a rinsing.

To this, you want to add salt.  That bag says "Coarse sea salt", but I want to say "pickling salt" is okay, too. At this point, we are trying to draw moisture out of the dandelions.  Let them sit for an hour or two with a good scattering of the salt through it... like a steak.

Now they are all wilted, and the moisture is pooled at the bottom.  Some of the moisture came from the rinse we did and some of it came from the dandelions.

Here we are washing the salt off of it.  At this point, we gave it a taste and my mother exclaimed "AIGOOOO!! Too salty!".  You may also have this problem, as my mothers instructions just eyeballed the sea salt with no measurements.  That is ok.  This recipe is forgiving.   We are going to have our kimchi sit in some water while we make the rest of the stuff. That way, we will draw out the excess of salt.

Upper left: Upside down bag of Chili pepper powder, Vietnamese fish sauce, Bear brand Flour,and Tone's sea salt. (you could use the same sea salt/pickling salt from earlier).

A good amount of chili pepper powder into a large bowl.  And add fish sauce and mix with your hand.

In a saucepan put in a quart to 1.5 qts water

In a bowl, mix Bear Brand flour, some salt, and water.  If your dandelion greens are very salty, don't add salt here. If they're just at the point where it's nicely salted, just add a little salt to the flour mixture.

 This is applying the same principle as corn starch. If you don't mix it with water and just add it to the hot water, you will end up with chunks.

When the water in saucepan has come to a furious boil, whisk the saucepan,

and pour the flour water mixture. Keep whisking as it turns thick

(kind of like when you've added milk to a roux... )

After all flour is dissolved, and it is as smooth as vanilla pudding, put it aside and let it cool.

We put it outside to speed the process, as it was a breezy day.

In this chopping board, you see cut scallions, and the bowl of chili powder and fish sauce.  We are about to blend Whole garlic cloves, and ginger in just enough water to cover.

Add puree'd ginger and garlic to the fish sauce bowl.

Add scallions to fish sauce bowl.

Here we are taking the wilted dandelions that sat in fresh water because we accidentally made it too salty earlier.  We tasted it to make sure it was salty like when making salty pickles...  I will tell you there is a bitter finish to the dandelions, but it truly goes away or significantly reduces once the fermentation is over.

Here's the "glue" as my mom calls it on the left. That is the Bear brand flour that was whisked into the water.

The right has the bowl of everything else.

The dandelion greens are placed into a tub where I will ferment it for a couple of days.

This is just a large plastic tub with a lid.  For those of you in the know, this is a tub from a Kimchi refrigerator.  HARDCORE!

Pour in everything from the fish sauce bowl.

Now, pour in a good amount of the glue. I want to say we actually didn't use all of it. It's basically  a binder or as she called it "glue" to make all the seasonings stick to the dandelions.

Mix it all up by hand.  As the old Jewish grandmas have told me, it's not Latkes unless it's got a little grandma knuckle in it...  This isn't kimchi unless it's got "Mommy hand taste" in it. I am serious! Go ask your Korean friends! This no shens!

  Then we put the lid on it, and put it somewhere in the house for a few days.  I left mine on the kitchen counter for 3 days.  I advise not putting it in the bedroom, because people will wonder who died or the bathroom, because of that episode of mythbusters about toothbrushes in the bathroom.

When you taste it after three days, it may or may not be at the "Peak" of kimchiness, but at that point I put it in the mason jars and put it in my fridge, because it will always continue to ferment in your refrigerator.
Eat with rice, and enjoy! stores for about a month, and you will taste the transition in the taste as it gets older.  It may have lost the bitter finish, but it is replaced by one that is truly flowery tasting.


Wait, what's that you say?  I never put any amounts, or measurements?  Hey... You're right.
Welp, That's how many of these grandma recipes go.

We'll just have to try it until we get the measurement right.  It all depends if you want it spicier, and your quantity of dandelions....   But at least you get the gist of the process and the ingredients involved.

Urban Homesteading Friendships

A few weeks ago, I've had the pleasure of meeting two really nice people.
Aaron and Sam. Two urban homesteaders who also live in my village.

They also operate Oschner Farms which showcases heirloom vegetables, and rare tobaccos.  They had a traditional CSA last year which produced hundreds of pounds of organic and local kale, onions, juicy summer tomatoes, kohlrabi, eggplants and many more.  I had the pleasure of seeing their land and some overwintered vegetables while visiting their farm last weekend.

A photo from last year's CSA baskets from Oschner Farms.

 Since meeting them, we have completely hit it off like kindred spirits of the farming sort.  That being said, one thing we homesteaders do exceptionally well is lend a hand.  Aaron was in the midst of a large ramp harvest, and had thousands of seedlings that needed transplanting.  I told him I would love to give them a hand, and bring the whole fam over.  Through conversation, it became known that Aaron and Sam were good cooks with actual restaurant culinary experience.

Then, I told him I could bring even more hands to lighten the load if there was food involved.
IT IS WRITTEN, SO IT SHALL BE DONE!  In conclusion, last Sunday we went over to Oschner farms and transplanted seedlings with Sam while Aaron was harvesting ramps. 

Aaron in the midst of a ramp harvesting frenzy

Meanwhile back at the ranch... quite literally.

The kids, and our good buddies were transplanting seedlings from seedling tray to 4" pots with popsicle sticks.  When the seedling trays were brought out, my daughter Momsi said "Are those peppers?"

Sam exclaimed, "yes!" and complimented Momsi on her ability to identify seedlings.

                                    

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Proud Momma Moment:
THAT'S MY BABY!!!!!!!!
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This may or may not be correct form, but the vermiculite mix was too crumbly to remove an entire cell. The seed starter mix was a combination of Vermiculite, peat, and magical sea goodies. Either way, the art of transplanting seedlings with popsicle sticks is a method I've seen even in 1970's gardening books. 

This was a long lost art form in revival, I'm telling you!

Here is a picture of the pots we filled, and transplanted.

It worked out swimmingly. Good friendships were made that day with some very good people.

 By the time Aaron had come back from ramping, we were all out of pots, and ready for the much anticipated dinner of smoked pork shoulder on pretzel buns (with a chipotle raspberry BBQ sauce), and rainbow cole slaw.  They even made us some potato soup with shittake mushrooms and ramps. All made from scratch!  It was a nice warm up from working in the brisk weather.



Prepping for Dandelion Kimchi

Hey Y'all,

So now that daylily time is over (it only lasts about a week or two), I have noticed all the dandelions popping up everywhere.  That's awesome!  Free food! God bless America!

A Few years ago, the owner of a florist turned me onto dandelion kimchi.  I was wary (as usual) and asked where the dandelions came from, and will I truly not die if I eat them? The kimchi, tasted AWESOME.

For those of you who don't know, Kimchi is this very spicy pickled condiment that is the staple of Korean food.  My father has drilled this into my mind since I was a wee babe. He insisted Kimchi could cure all sorts of ailments, and spark wars and feuds... Growing up in America, I always gave a good eyeroll and grumbled about my father's blind nationalism for Kimchi...
 
However, come to find in books and articles ( http://www.health.com/health/article/0,,20410300,00.html )
that there is a grain of truth in what he's said.  It is one of the top ten most healthy foods of the entire world.
Due to its fermentation, it contains the same bacteria that are in yogurt.  Therefore, it helps in a probiotic way, which means good stomach digestion, less yeast infections, and even some studies show it can prevent the growth of cancer.  Well, I guess dad wasn't just being overtly enthusiastic about it...Maybe there was even more than just a grain of truth.  Maybe I owe him an apology.  Someday...

Dandelion kimchi has a flavor I can't quite put a finger on, but there's definitely a flowery hint in the aftertaste.  Mrs. Oak the florist gave me some basic sage advice:
Do not pick dandelions from the sides of roads,
and to make sure I picked ones that did NOT flower already. I took mental note.
I have known others to use dandelion greens in salads, and the repeated counsel is to eat them before they allow a flower to bloom, as it will get bitter beyond that point.

Last year, I thought I'd try this venture, myself. I asked my friend Ben if he could help me take out some dandelions from my yard while I was at work.  I wasn't expecting much, but when I came home, I was surprised to find his hands black, and a bag full of dandelions.  Rockin'! I cleaned them at my parent's house and had them make the kimchi.  It was not the same as the florist lady, but still had a similar flavor which I could only affirm was the dandelion.  Mmmmm so goooood with rice.

So this year, I armed myself with the taproot/dandelion/weedpuller device, and set to work in the backyard after a good rainfall. FYI, friends, taking anything out of the soil is a thousand times easier after the rain.

Got some over here (my daughter was the camera woman.  I insist on doing all these things while the kids play in the backyard. That way I can be an adult presence while they play, or indirectly they can help or observe... but they will grow up being around these activities).

and s'more over here

and even over here.  The last time we painted the deck was two years ago,

so I felt it was safe to partake a few of this proximity, but they were smaller so I gave up quickly.

Many hands lighten the load?  In this picture,

I am removing some small and dried out looking leaves by the taproot.

Here it is a little clearer.

So I washed them best I could, and it needed not triple washing, but something like quintuple washing. Fine grains of dirt, and nooks and crannies of clay, tied with bits of grass. HOW ON EARTH DID THE FLORIST LADY DO IT?!  I'm not sure, and when I called her to ask, she said in Korean "Oh, y'know if you wash it well, then that's good"  ...ehhhh  -_-*

So all in all, I've got three grocery bags full of dandelions washed a few times, and cleaned. I will give them a final rinse tomorrow at my parent's house.  They have giant steel tubs made solely for kimchi making.

They even have a refrigerator solely for kimchi making.   Therefore, I will document the process and let you know how my family's super no-so-secret kimchi recipe is adjusted to make DANDELION KIMCHI.

This year, I will learn for myself, as times spent with my parents learning are the treasures I hope to receive as an inheritance.

Seacrest out!

Eat the weeds: Daylily greens

Well, this is a long overdue post. How overdue? Oh I'd say about two years.
I've been meaning to write it, but daylily greens time is so short, it is pretty much over as soon as it starts!

It all began long time ago in a galaxy far away...
when I read that day lilies were edible.  That's really funny, because I was planning to dig the darned things out until I read that. LAFF! DERP! I'm an edible laaaaandscaper! I don't even know all the edibles!

Let's move on, shall we?

I was told by a nice lady that "If you have a plot of daylillies, you will never go hungry".  Considered as a delicacy by wild food gatherers and knowledgeable chefs, the daylily has a long history in Chinese medicine and cuisine. While it's true that the flowers, tubers, and leaves are edible, I've found the leaves can only be eaten when they are very young and tender.

 The first year,I tried some with speculation, and it wasn't too bad. Actually it was pretty darn good, but there was just one problem. IT WAS TOUGH. Like eating a flat leaf with the texture of twine.  I still kept chewing and insisted it was delicious, as the rest of my family gave me the stink-eye, and I finally said... yeah it's tough. Don't eat it.

The second year, I was determined to give it another try because it DID taste good.
This time, I got it when it was younger, and SUCCESS. The kids loved it and were begging for a second round on another day.  By the time we got around trying a third time it was too tough. Crazy, I tell you.


So much older, and wiser.. here we are at year 3.

here's a bowl of freshly cut Daylily greens. At most they are 2".
Like I said, a very limited performance contract.

here I have a pan with butter, and minced garlic..because everything tastes awesome with these!!

HISSSS POP CRACKLE.  Ohhh yeah the sounds and smells of stir-fry

After a few minutes of cooking, you can see they are like Spinach or broccoli. Turns an awesome shiny and VIBRANT green after cooking!

You will also notice that kind of like spinach or other greens, they've reduced to half the size. 

here it is. In all it's glory.



Now, there are a very few number of people out there who are allergic to daylily greens, so please try a few pieces and see how you handle it before eating them all.  It was a learning process, but now my kids and I look forward to the time of the year where we can eat the daylilies. :)

Starting next week:  Dandelion Kimchi   :)  

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH YEAH BAY-BAY!