Lactic Acid FermentationWhat is Fermentation?Fermentation is the anaerobic (without oxygen) breakdown of substances such as sugars and carbohydrates into other substances often acid or alcohol via microorganisms such as bacteria and yeast (1, 2). Microorganisms ferment to make energy, while acid, carbon dioxide, and ethanol (alcohol) are side products that we utilize (1). For food purposes, two different types of fermentation are most often used: ethanol and lactic acid fermentation (also known as lacto-fermentation). Yeast, specifically certain wine and beer strains or bread strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which you can purchase, is generally used to make alcohol or bread, respectively (1). Carbon dioxide is released which is what causes bread to rise or it is off-gassed in the case of ethanol fermentation (1). In contrast, wild lactic acid bacteria, particularly certain strains of Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, and Streptococcus, generally perform lacto-fermentation, although other bacteria may also play a role (1). Lacto-fermentation is used to make many common food products such as sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles, hot sauces, cheese, yogurt, and more (1, 2). A third type of fermentation sometimes performed at home uses acetic acid bacteria which are used to make vinegar and kombucha (2). Various fermented hot sauces and one of my favorite ways to use hot sauce, over eggs! Why Ferment?Fermentation is a form of food preservation. Before refrigeration, freezers, and safe canning equipment existed, fermentation was used to preserve the harvest and make food safer to store. Fermentation can also make food more nutritious and more digestible (2). Most cultures have food preservation techniques based on lacto-fermentation, ethanol fermentation, or both. I ferment not only to preserve the produce I grow but also because I like the taste. Fermented hot sauces and pickles taste different than a typical vinegar-based hot sauce or pickle. I am also prone to acid reflux and find that fermented foods are easier on my stomach than the typical vinegar-type pickle (although I love vinegar as well!). How to FermentFermentation is a very safe method of food preservation assuming you start with enough salt. A good rule of thumb is to use at a minimum 2% salt, although some vegetables require more. For example, cucumbers consist of a lot of water therefore, up to 5% salt is better to prevent mold formation. For a good chart on how much salt to use and more information on how to make up the salt solution, I like this website. Because fermentation is one of the safest ways to preserve food, I am often willing to follow random internet recipes for fermentation (unlike canning where I only follow safe, tested recipes) because generally if a fermentation goes bad, you know. Just double-check how much salt to add to that vegetable for any fermentation recipe. If your fermentation turns slimy or moldy (anything fuzzy), throw it out! What is commonly called Kahm yeast (a white coating on top of the ferment that is not fuzzy) is safe to eat but can give the food an off flavor. The key to successful fermentation is to keep everything below the brine and eliminate as much oxygen as possible at the top of the ferment. Anaerobic lactic acid bacteria grow without the presence of oxygen however mold contamination always occurs at the top of the ferment as it requires oxygen to grow. Once the fermentation gets started enough carbon dioxide is produced to push out excess oxygen and the risk of mold contamination is reduced. To keep oxygen from re-entering ferments I like wide-mouth mason jars (quart or half-gallon sizes are great), with glass weights to hold everything below the liquid brine and a lid to keep the air out. I often use the Easy Fermenter Lids or simple airlocks used for alcohol fermentation as they self-burp, so you do not need to keep opening the lids. If you use an actual lid you will need to release the gas produced often enough to keep the jar from exploding but you also run the risk of incorporating oxygen into the top of your ferment every time you crack the lid which can allow mold to grow. For larger ferments, you will likely want a fermentation crock. I like the water seal fermentation crocks with a lid in a moat at the top that holds water, forming an airlock. A small hole in the lid allows the gas to escape but the hole is covered by water to keep oxygen from entering the crock. A 3 gallon water sealed fermentation crock from Ohio Stoneware. The top moat is filled with water and the hole in the lid that allows gas to escape is visible in the second picture. Most fermentation crocks also come with stone weights to hold the vegetables below the brine. For a basic fermentation, you make up your salt solution (some things like sauerkraut are traditionally brined dry, meaning you add salt directly to the vegetables and the salt pulls liquid out) and pour it over your prepped vegetables. Make sure all the vegetables are covered, add your weight to keep the vegetables submerged, and attach the lid. Most ferments such as hot sauce go at least 30 days but commercially made Tabasco is generally aged 3 years, sauerkraut generally takes 6-8 weeks, and cucumbers are usually much shorter, 5-7 days although you can go longer if you want a sourer pickle. I tend to do shorter cucumber ferments to reduce the risk of mold formation and because I like crunchier pickles. In general, the longer the ferment the softer the vegetable will become. ResourcesFor sauerkraut and cucumber-fermented pickles, I follow Ball (one of the safe canning resources) recipes. Their online website only has a fermented tomato salsa recipe, but other fermentation recipes such as sauerkraut, pickles, hot sauces, and Worcestershire sauce are available in several of their books. See my Canning post for more information on the Ball books that are currently available. Pickles are more likely to mold in my experience, so I like the Ball recipe because it uses a little vinegar at the beginning of the ferment to help reduce the risk of contamination before the fermentation gets started. However, there isn’t enough vinegar added to inhibit fermentation. For fermentation resources other than Ball, I like the Insane in the Brine website, particularly for his hot sauce recipes. The author has also written a couple of books, which feature even more of his recipes than are available online. Other books I recommend include “The Noma Guide to Fermentation” by Rene Redzepi and David Zilber, “The Art of Fermentation” and “Wild Fermentation” by Sandor Ellix Katz, “Fermented Vegetables” and “Fiery Ferments” by Kirsten and Christopher Shockey, and “The Kimchi Cookbook” by Lauryn Chun. References
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How to Make a Pinecone Wreath Using Bleached Pinecones from the Red Pine TreeOne of my early, and more popular, blog posts was on How to Make a Pinecone Wreath. Today I am going to update that post using a different type of pinecone. The first post used pinecones from white pine trees. These cones are elongated and make a very different wreath than pinecones from red pines, the focus of today's post, which are much smaller and roughly 2”x 2”. They are also more challenging to work with due to their different shape. Additionally, I use bleached pinecones so I will also discuss how to bleach pinecones. Bleach the PineconesFirst, it is important to note that bleaching pinecones does not turn them white. If you want a white wreath you will have to spray paint the cones. Instead, bleaching pinecones turns them into a beautiful, driftwood-type color (see the above picture). I have found that to bleach pinecones it is preferable to use older pinecones that are not covered in sap. These types of cones bleach better as the bleach can soak into the pinecones better. Please note it is important to use protective gear when working with large amounts of bleach. Googles to protect the eyes, a respirator mask to avoid breathing fumes, and old clothes or even a rain jacket are necessary. It is also preferable to bleach the cones outside or in a well-ventilated space. I use a 10% bleach solution and bleach my cones in a 5-gallon bucket with a weight, like a heavy plate with a rock on top, to keep the cones submerged. To make a 10% solution mix 1 part bleach with 9 parts water, for example, 1 cup of bleach to 9 cups of water. I usually bleach the cones for at least 24 hours. After 24 hours most of the bleach is deactivated as once diluted it does not stay active for long. This is especially important if you have a septic tank as you do not want to kill the good bacteria in your tank by pouring lots of active bleach down the drain. After draining off the bleach water I rinse multiple times to remove any residual bleach. After rinsing I lay out the cones in a single layer on newspaper or cardboard to dry. This can take several days depending on the local humidity. If you plan on displaying your wreath outside you may want to spray the cones with a clear acrylic waterproof spray to help them last longer when exposed to the weather. I usually did this after the wreath was complete so I would not waste spray on cones that I potentially would not use. However, spraying after does not allow for as great coverage as spraying each one individually will. Regardless of whether you spray it or not, I do recommend displaying the wreath in a sheltered location if possible if you do choose to put it outside as this will expand the lifespan of the wreath. How to BeginOnce the cones are completely dry it is time to start constructing the wreath. First, you will need a wire wreath frame (I have used 12” and 18” frames) and floral wire (the green wire available in most craft, big box stores, and online retailers). I like the 26 or 22-gauge wire. The 26-gauge wire is easier to work with since it is thinner, but 22-gauge can be helpful when trying to thread the wire through the wreath after the first 3 rows of cones are attached since it is stiffer and less likely to bend. Some people hot glue the cones to a foam frame but I highly recommend individually wiring the pinecones to a metal frame. These wreaths are very delicate but at least by wiring them, you do not need to worry about them falling off! You will also need wire cutters and I have found needle nose pliers come in handy when adding the last group of pinecones to grab the wires and pull them toward the back of the frame. Step 1: MaterialsYou will need a wreath frame, floral wire, wire cutters, needle nose pliers, and pinecones. For red pine pinecones, you will need a lot of cones, much more than for a white pine pinecone wreath! As an estimate, you will need about 100 cones for a 12” frame and about 200 for an 18” frame. For the wreath pictured, I used an 18” frame and used about 36 cones for each of the first 3 bottom rows which equals 108 cones for the bottom layer. I like to add in a second layer to fill in any gaps using as many pinecones as necessary until it looks “pleasing” to the eye. Step 2: WiringI cut approximately 6-8" pieces of floral wire and wrap it around the stem end of the cones (go a few scales down from the end) at least twice. Then insert the top of the cone with the floral wire outside the two wires in the center of the frame with the floral wire sticking out the back. Twist several times to attach the cone to the frame. Repeat this process for the entire middle section of the frame. I find it easier to start in the center for the red pine pinecones versus the outside for the white pine pinecones. I usually use my larger pinecones on the first layer of the wreath and save the smaller ones for the top layer and to fill any holes at the end. For the cones at the end, you may need a longer wire (8-10") to reach through the wreath with enough remaining to grip and twist to secure the pinecone. I also find that pushing the cones as close as possible while you wire them in place makes the entire wreath more secure. I try to interlock the scales of cones next to each other to make them more stable. Step 3: Trim the WiresFilling in the next ring of the wreath is much easier if you first trim off the excess floral wire. Otherwise, you often grab the wrong wires when attaching the second row of pinecones. Make sure each cone is secure and the wire is tight. I often twist the wires of 2 different cones together first to maximize the stability of the cones and wire. Then trim the excess wire, wrap the cut end around the frame, and push the cut end inward to avoid scratching yourself when handling the wreath. When the wreath is complete, I hot glue the ends of the wires for extra security and to avoid scratches on the wall. Wreath comparison with just the first three bottom rows complete (left) versus additional pinecones added on top to fill in any gaps and complete the look (right). Step 4: Complete the WreathAfter you trim the excess wires from the first row, move on to the second row, trim the wires from this row, and then wire in the third row. Each row gets subsequently harder to wire because there is less room to fit the cones and your fingers however, with a little patience you will soon have all three rows wired. Next, fill in any gaps with the smallest cones you have on hand. I have found it helpful to hang the wreath on the wall to determine where the gaps are. Sometimes taking a picture of the wreath on the wall is also helpful as it is easier to notice problems with the wreath from a picture than on the table or wall. You may also find it necessary to adjust or even remove certain cones that do not fit quite right. If a cone is sticking out too much you can often wire it to pull it closer to the remaining cones. If this does not work, simply remove it, and replace it with one that fits better. Once the wreath is complete and you are happy, finish trimming the wires and hot glue them to keep them from scratching the wall or you can back the wire frame with felt. Regardless, hang the wreath and enjoy! Safe Home CanningThere are many canning resources available online and in print, however, most of them are unfortunately not safe. Many people do not care about canning safely (i.e., canning rebels) and claim “their kitchen, their rules,” however, I would not want to eat their canning or even their cooking. This blog post is for those who do want to can safely and not worry about making someone sick or even killing them. If you disagree with safe canning practices, please do not comment as I will remove all unsafe canning advice, but I am happy to answer any legitimate questions. Although I have a bachelor’s degree in microbiology, I am not a food scientist, therefore, I encourage anyone learning to read over some of the safe canning resources given below. Two safe canning resources in North America that test their recipes are Ball (Bernadin in Canada) and NCHFP (National Center for Home Food Preservation, associated with the University of Georgia). Most university extension sites are also safe, but if there is a discrepancy between extension sites or even Ball, go with NCHFP to be safe. I also like a canning blog that only publishes safe recipes from Ball/Bernadin or NCHFP, called Healthy Canning. There are great articles on the Healthy Canning site that explain why certain practices or substitutions to recipes are or are not safe. Also, there is a safe canning group on Facebook, called “Canning” and one of the admins (Ann Crum) also has a YouTube channel called Ann's Mini Homestead, the only one I am aware of that promotes safe canning techniques. In general, avoid any other website, blog, Facebook page, or YouTube channel as it is likely unsafe. For printed canning resources in addition to Ball/NCHFP website recipes, there are several Ball books available (safe if from 2005 and later), and you can purchase the NCHFP book from the University of Georgia extension site but all the recipes are also available on their website and can be printed out from there. Most other books available to purchase contain at least some unsafe information. The Ball Blue Book is the basic book that most people start with and includes fermentation recipes for sauerkraut and cucumber pickles in addition to basic water bath and pressure canning recipes. The All New Ball Book includes some updated recipes, including meal-in-a-jar type ones as well as more fermentation recipes. However, that book did receive some criticism for containing a few errors (actually all of them do, most of which have been fixed with subsequent printings) so I looked up the errors on the Healthy Canning website and made the changes directly in the books. The last Ball book is the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, which has the most recipes of all the Ball books and is a good addition to your canning library. Water Bath or Steam CanningFor pickling you have two choices, either canning to preserve it long-term or fridge pickles, which generally last 3-6 months. I follow a Ball or NCHFP recipe if I am planning on canning it to make sure I include the correct amount of acid. If I just want to make a small amount of fridge pickles, usually cucumbers or hot peppers, I will follow either Ball/NCHFP or any recipe I like since it will be stored in the fridge and the total acidity is not as important. For water bath canning I MUCH prefer a steam canner over the traditional water bath where the water needs to be an inch or two over the top of the jar as it is much faster since you only need to boil 3 quarts of water instead of a whole pot. The only downside is that it is only recommended for recipes that have 45 minutes or less processing time. This generally isn't a problem for those living under 1000 feet but can come into play if you live at a higher elevation. Two key things with water bath/steam canning are that you need to increase processing times for increasing elevation (see chart) and you need to properly acidify your product if it is not naturally acidic enough to keep the botulism-causing bacteria from growing. Most fruits are acidic enough (exceptions are white peaches, mulberries, and elderberries so these either cannot be canned or are canned with very specific recipes) but tomatoes always need extra acid added to each jar. All tomato varieties are borderline acidic, heirlooms are not more acidic than current varieties, and "low acid" tomatoes have similar levels of acid as any other tomato, they just have more sugar which masks the acidic taste (1). Pressure CanningFor pressure canning, there are two common stove-top canners (use a canner, not a cooker!): Presto and All-American. If you have a glass top stove check with the manufacturer or manual to make sure it can support the weight of a full canner. To be safe a pressure canner needs to be at least 16-quart capacity (15.5 for the smallest All-American), which is the volume of the pot, not the jars, and you need a minimum of 2-quart jars per canner load (or the equivalent, so 4 pints, 8 half pints, etc., and you can add a quart jar of water for small loads, to take up space). There is currently no electric pressure canner that is considered safe (not even the Instant Pots which have a canning function). Presto has recently released a new electric canner, but it has yet to be tested by an independent source (Oregon State Extension is currently working on testing it) so the best practice is to wait until testing is complete before using them. Additionally, electronic devices can go bad, and it is uncertain if you will be able to have them tested like you can with a dial gauge to make sure they are calibrated properly. Additionally, a stove-top pressure canner with a weight will never give the wrong pressure, so using the weight instead of a gauge is my preferred method. Many people love All-American canners because they are super solid and do not use gaskets, but they are extremely heavy and very expensive. I love my Prestos, I have both sizes and they are much easier to lift, the smaller one heats up and cools down faster, and for the large one, you can double stack pint jars. All-American makes smaller ones but they also make one you can double stack quarts, but it is usually too tall to fit on most stoves if you have a microwave above your stove. The key to pressure canning is you need the correct pressure for your elevation. I use the 15-pound weight because I am over 1000 feet so 10 pounds is not enough. You can go by the gauge (for me it is 11 pounds) but then you need it tested yearly to be sure it is still accurate, so it is just easier to use the weight since it is never wrong. If you live under 1000 feet you can use a 10-pound weight, but you need to buy it separately for Presto since they come standard with a 15 lb. Also, if a recipe has both water bath and pressure canning instructions generally the pressure canning instructions just mimic water bath conditions (they do not come up to high enough pressure/temperature to kill botulism spores) so acidification is still necessary. One additional point is that recipes need to be followed exactly, you cannot simply pressure can anything you want to make it safe. Density, pressure, and total canning time (including the vent time and cool-down time) are also important. References
Organic Pest Control: BtBt is Bacillus thuringiensis, a bacterium naturally found in the soil used to control pests, is the most widely used biopesticide worldwide (1). A biopesticide is a pesticide derived from a biologically occurring, natural source, such as from an animal, plant, bacteria, or mineral. Although the use of Bt can be traced back to the early 1900s the first commercial use was in France in 1938 (1, 2) and was first registered for use in the United States by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1961 (3). B. thuringiensis is a rod-shaped bacterium that switches between normal vegetative growth and a sporulation state in which round spores are formed (4). When spores are formed, the bacterium also produces crystalline proteins (Cry family of proteins) which are toxic to certain insects (5). When the insect ingests the Bt, for example, while eating a leaf sprayed with the Bt-containing pesticide, the crystalline proteins bind to specific receptors on the epithelial (skin) cells of the insect’s gut, the cry proteins then form a pore in the cell, causing them to lyse (rupture) due to osmotic shock (6). Other organisms, such as humans, other mammals, birds, earthworms, and most other insects do not have the receptor necessary for binding and are therefore not harmed (2, 3). Different subspecies of Bt are specific for different types of insects. For example, Bt kurstaki (Btk), the most common and easiest to find Bt, is used to control Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) larvae such as cabbage worms, cabbage loopers, gypsy moth, tobacco hornworm, and more (2). It has no effect on beneficial insects like honeybees or ladybugs (3) but should only be applied to plants that butterflies, such as monarchs, are unlikely to visit, for example, brassicas. Bt israelensis (Bti) is used to control mosquitos and fungus gnats (Dipterans or flies) by targeting the larvae of those insects (2) and is commercially available as Mosquito Bits or Mosquito Dunks. Mosquito Bits are in pellet form and can be sprinkled in standing water to kill mosquito larvae. I have also mixed the pellets into my plant water when I have a fungus gnat outbreak in the soil of my house plants. Simply watering your plants soaks the soil with the Bti allowing the pesticide to control the larval stage. Mosquito Dunks are larger and float on water and slowly release the Bt as they dissolve over time and can also be used in standing water. Bt aizawai (Bta) is used to control certain moth larvae species, especially those that eat grains (6). This formulation appears available for commercial farms but not for the average homeowner to purchase. Bt tenebrionis and Bt san diego are used to control beetles such as the Colorado potato beetle (6). This formulation also appears available for commercial farms but not for the average homeowner. AdvantagesBt is a very safe pesticide (2, 3) especially when compared to other non-organic synthetic pesticides and even some organic pesticides. Bt is also very effective against specific pests (6), but its mechanism of action does have some disadvantages (see below). Bt is also a very host-specific pesticide (2, 3, 6), particularly when used according to the label instructions, which reduces off-target effects. DisadvantagesBecause the larvae need to eat the Bt for it to be active, plants will sustain more damage until the toxin takes effect, usually within a few days. The Bt spores are also sensitive to UV light (sunlight will break them down) (7) and may wash off the leaves, particularly after a hard rain. The typical half-life of Bt on foilage in field conditions is 1-2 days (7), therefore it is recommended that plants be sprayed weekly or following a hard rain or overhead irrigation. There is also the possibility of off-target effects however, Bt is much more host-specific than many other pesticides on the market, even other biopesticides. When used carefully on specific plants off-target effects are minimized. ConclusionsOne last use for Bt has been introducing the gene into the plant itself, making a transgenic crop. This eliminates the need for spraying, instead, the plant cell itself produces the insecticidal protein. The use of Bt in transgenic crops is beyond the scope of this blog post and I will likely address the topic in the future. However, in the United States, the most common Bt crops are corn and cotton, but potato and tobacco have also been modified. To my knowledge these crops are not available to the average home gardener but only to commercial farms. References
HydroponicsWhy Hydroponics?I have been interested in hydroponics since I was a child. For an elementary school science fair, I compared traditionally grown vegetables (beans and corn) to hydroponically grown ones. Although I did not win, which I am still a little sore about, I did learn the basics of hydroponics. The good news is that 30 years later there are many more options out there for hydroponic gardening. You can purchase a setup, or you can DIY one. You can use your setup indoors, in a greenhouse, or even outside. You can make up a nutrient solution from scratch or you can buy pre-made powder or concentrate and dilute it. You can use media-based hydroponics or no media at all. Or, for an extra challenge, you can venture into aeroponics or aquaponics. Although I like the idea of hydroponics, part of me feels like it is cheating without using soil. I love gardening, mostly because I can spend time outdoors and play in the dirt. Although some types of hydroponics use media, no hydroponics system uses actual soil. However, the big plus for me that outweighs all others is that hydroponics is a way to extend the season and harvest vegetables in the middle of winter. For this article, I will focus on an indoor system that uses supplemental lighting. I live in central Wisconsin in USDA agricultural zone 4b which means I can work in my garden from roughly April to November. We often still get snow in April, so it is not unusual for my cold crop seeds to get several inches or more of snow on them (they still sprout just fine though). We can also have a hard frost by mid-September although most years it is in October, but it has also been as late as November. I extend the season the best I can with frost covers but unless I buy a heated greenhouse there is not enough heat in a Wisconsin winter, or even enough light in a day to grow crops. Most plants do not grow much when days get shorter than 10 hours of light. When daylight falls below 10 hours per day, this is called the Persephone period, named after the Greek goddess of the harvest. For my area, that means that without supplemental light I cannot grow anything outdoors from November 5th to February 4th. You can however overwinter cold-hardy crops like spinach, kale, parsnips, and carrots. These crops will survive, but not actually grow until the daylight hours get longer, and the temperatures are above freezing again in the spring. What Type of Hydroponic System?Lately, Aerogarden and similar systems have become very popular. They are also very expensive. I did finally break down and buy a small Aerogarden on sale last year and I must admit it is great for crops like salad greens and herbs. I first tried tennis ball lettuce using one of the grow-your-own kits and it grew fantastically. You do not get much product, however, but it was enough for a couple of small salads or lettuce for sandwiches over the course of several weeks. However, what I am most interested in growing during a Wisconsin winter are tomatoes and peppers. I am obsessed with growing tomatoes and peppers because I love to try all the different varieties, and there are thousands of them out there. You can also easily save your own seed which means you do not need to keep buying fresh seed every few years. I discovered, however, that to grow larger crops with a purchased system is at least $800 or more. So, I decided (with the help of my husband) to build my own hydroponic system that can accommodate larger, flowering crops. Please note there are many, many different types of DIY hydroponic systems, I am only going to cover one as it is the only type I have experience with thus far. After extensive research, I realized the hydroponic system that is used most often for larger flowering crops is the Bato bucket or Dutch bucket system. Bato buckets are a type of ebb and flow (or flood and drain) system of hydroponics. These are not the easiest hydroponic systems to set up, but they are also not so complex that a reasonably handy person with a few common tools cannot do it either. There are two steps to the ebb and flow system, the flooding step where the nutrient solution floods over the roots, and then the drain step where the nutrient solution flows back to a reservoir. You can keep the Bato buckets (pots) separate or link them up in sequence to an irrigation system with a pump and drainage tube which allows them all to be fertilized at the same time and then have the nutrient solution drain back into a reservoir to be re-used during the next flood cycle. Another huge advantage to this system is that you can use timers to have not only the lights turn on and off but also turn on the pump which irrigates your buckets, without any labor on your part, once the system is set up. I have my system set to pump nutrient solution just three times per day (8 am, 2 pm, and 8 pm) for 30 minutes each. Because this type of system does not have nutrient solution flowing over your plant roots all the time, you need to use some type of media that holds moisture so the roots do not dry out in between irrigation times. The most common types of media used in hydroponics are perlite and expanded clay pebbles also known as LECA (light expanded clay aggregate, one common brand name is Hydroton). I have tried both and thus far prefer the expanded clay pebbles, but both have worked well for me. Perlite is made of volcanic rock and is cheaper than clay, but it can only be used 1-2 times before fresh is needed. I plan to add my used perlite to my raised beds outside to increase drainage, so I will not need to throw it out after it is used. Perlite is good because it is lightweight and retains water well, but I found it difficult to clean to reuse it. Additionally, because the pieces are small you need to use a mesh strainer bag in your buckets to keep the perlite from washing into the drainage system and clogging your pump. I used paint strainer bags, but I am uncertain if the plastic used in them is food-safe (if anyone knows send me a message!). Therefore, my preference is to use the expanded clay pebbles. Because the clay pebbles are bigger and will not clog the drainage system there is no need for the paint strainer bags, and in my opinion, less plastic is always good. Both the clay pebbles and perlite are dusty so be sure to wear a mask when using them until the substrate is wetted thoroughly. The clay pebbles are especially dusty so they need to be rinsed extensively before use. Two disadvantages of the clay pebbles are that they are heavier and do not hold water as well as the perlite. They seem to hold sufficient water for my plants to be fine overnight when I do not run the irrigation system, however, in the event of a power outage I think I would have to manually water the clay pebble pots more frequently than the perlite to keep them moist. Before I bought all my supplies and started setting up my system I watched some YouTube videos, one of the most helpful was “How to Build a Bato Bucket System” by ZipGrow. Their system was designed for 8 buckets, but I started with only 4 to make sure it worked before I invested more money into a larger system. I did make a table big enough to expand to 8 if I wanted to and I have since expanded my system. I also looked at some commercial systems that are available to purchase to see what supplies they came with to figure out what size water and air pumps, tubing, air stones, etc. I should purchase. Setting Up Your Hydroponic SystemI ended up setting up my Bato bucket system very similarly to the YouTube video but instead of one long system, made it to fit on a 4x4 foot table instead of a long 2x10 foot table. I also used drip stakes, instead of drip emitters because I like to push the stakes into the media to help hold them in place. For a Bato bucket system, you will need a nutrient reservoir unless you wish to manually water and drain the nutrient solution yourself. You can purchase reservoirs that are made specifically for hydroponics, but they are very expensive, which is why we cut a 55-gallon drum in half to use as our reservoir. Whatever you choose, make sure it is made of food-grade plastic and is opaque, or paint the outside to block light. Everything in hydroponics should be opaque to limit the growth of algae. You will also need the Bato buckets with elbows for drainage. I purchased these but many people have turned 5-gallon buckets into Bato buckets. PVC pipe that is 1.5” in diameter is needed for the drainage system (you need 10 feet if you want to have 8 buckets) plus an end cap for one end and an elbow for the drainage end. We ended up needing 2 end caps and 2 elbows once we expanded our system to two four-foot-long drainage tubes instead of one long one. One-half-inch tubing is used for the irrigation lines, plus a drain/stop valve for the end of the irrigation line if you want to be able to flush it. One-quarter inch tubing is used to run drip emitter stakes from the ½” irrigation tubing to the buckets, ½” clamps are used to clamp the irrigation tubing to the submersible pump and to clamp the drain/stop valve to the other end of the irrigation tubing. You also need a submersible pump to pump the nutrient solution to the plants as well as an air pump with air stones to keep the nutrient solution aerated. You can buy air pumps, air stones, and submersible pumps that are made specifically for hydroponics, or you can use ones that are designed for aquariums and ponds (just make sure they are food-safe). Zip ties are helpful to keep the air pump in place and we also used them to hold our irrigation tubing along a wooden rail in the middle of our two PVC drainage pipes. If you do one long pipe you can use 2-inch binder clips to hold the irrigation pipe along the backs of the Bato buckets, like in the YouTube video. I did not like this method because the irrigation tubing was so stiff it pulled the Bato buckets off the PVC drainage pipe and I ended up needing to put a large rock in the bottom of each bucket to hold them in place. In addition, a low table or bench is nice, so you don’t have to bend over so much as well as sufficient electrical outlets, a fan for air circulation, and a decent grow light. I used both 4-foot fluorescent fixtures with grow bulbs as well as a newer LED fixture. The LED light which was designed for hydroponics is much more powerful than the 4-foot fluorescent grow light, so it does not need to be as close to the plants and the plants grew much better on this half of my setup. I have since purchased a second LED grow light so I can have complete coverage of my 4’x4’ table. I use a 55-gallon drum cut in half as my nutrient reservoir. These are widely available in my area for free or cheap as most dairy farms buy solutions in them. We also cut the top off to use as a lid to help keep light out and help prevent evaporation. My reservoir holds up to about 30 gallons, but I usually have only 10 gallons of nutrient solution in it. When it drops by a gallon or two, I top it off until it is time to completely replace it. A rough rule of thumb is when you’ve had to top off your nutrient solution with the same amount as your total solution (in my case 10 gallons) over a certain period, then it is time to replace the solution. For example, if it takes 3 weeks before you add back a total of 10 gallons of solution, then you should replace the nutrient solution with fresh after 3 weeks. If this happens in one week then you need to replace it sooner, and you probably need a bigger reservoir. For me, I usually replace my nutrient solution with fresh, every 2-4 weeks depending on how many plants I have hooked up to the system and what stage of growth they are in. It is also a good idea to replace your solution regularly because, in addition to the depletion of nutrients, you may also want to tweak the different types of nutrients you use depending on the stage of growth. For example, you want to use a more dilute solution targeted toward vegetative growth when you first transplant your seedlings into your buckets. But later, when they start flowering you likely want to increase the nutrients and add more phosphorus-containing solution to increase flowering. In addition to the reservoir, we also made our lids for the Bato buckets as the ones I found online were flimsy. To make lids for our buckets we bought a 24”x36” sheet of HDPE food-safe black plastic and cut out lids to fit using tin snips. We cut them in half to make them easier to place around the plant and cut out holes with our drill press and Forstner bits for the plant stem plus the tubing for the drip stakes to fit through to deliver the nutrient solution. To set up the entire system, first, you need to set up your PVC drainage tubing along your table and drill holes into the top about every 1 foot for the drainage tube from the Bato bucket to fit into. We used 1.5” pipe clamps to hold the PVC pipe in place on the table. You need to cap the PVC on one end using PVC cement and place shims to lift one end of your table slightly or cut the legs on the drainage side of your table slightly shorter, so the nutrient solution drains out, instead of being stuck inside the PVC and potentially getting stagnant. You may need to get creative to make the drainage end of the PVC drain into your reservoir depending on what you are using. Since we set up a second drainage system attached to a single reservoir, we needed the 2 PVC drainage pipes to come together to drain back into the reservoir. If you have the space, it is easier to just make 1 longer PVC drainage pipe. Next, attach your larger irrigation tubing to your submersible pump and then run the tubing along the edge of your buckets. You need to either cap the end of the tubing or attach a shut-off valve so you can flush the tubing more easily. Then drill using 1/8” drill bits into the irrigation tube, preferably off to the side, and connect a small piece of ¼” tubing with a dripper stake at one end long enough to reach the center of the Bato bucket. The dripper stakes (I get mine from Drip Depot) come with adaptors to connect the ¼ tubing to your larger irrigation tubing, however, it is not unusual for these to leak slightly so you need to make sure it drips back into your bucket (this is easy if the tubing is attached to the side of the Bato bucket with 2” binder clips), or set up a system to catch the drips and return them to your bucket or reservoir if the tubing is not close to the buckets. I am currently just using aluminum foil to catch the drips but have recently purchased a food-grade glue to hopefully stop the leaking. I found the tubing to be very stiff so connecting it to the buckets was difficult and the binder clips were not always sufficient to keep it attached, plus if the buckets were light (only contained perlite) they sometimes moved due to the force of the tubing. Therefore, we switched to running the irrigation line down the center of the table and having the more flexible ¼” tubing running to each bucket. This way we can have 2 sets of buckets (4 on each side, 8 in total) on each side of the tubing and do not need to worry about trying to bend the ½” tubing to reach each Bato bucket. Last, you need to connect one end of ¼” tubing to your air pump and the other end to your air stones. I keep my nutrient solution aerating 24/7 but the submersible pump is on a timer to only run 3x per day. Remember, if your roots are submerged in water constantly, this will likely lead to root rot as the water will prevent the roots from receiving proper oxygenation. NutrientsOne big final question is what type and how concentrated your nutrient solution should be? I have been using the three General Hydroponics nutrient solutions with their CaliMagic and Floralious added in. I have also heard great things about the Masterblend dry mix which you combine with water. The advantage of General Hydroponics is you do not need to dissolve the nutrients, so it is faster to set up. The disadvantage is that it is more expensive, and I have had mold grow in the concentrated solutions which would not be a problem with long-term storage of dry nutrients. I have since started buying smaller bottles that I can use up more quickly before they get contaminated or expire. General Hydroponics has a great chart on its website for how many milliliters of each concentrated nutrient solution to add for each stage of growth per gallon of water. It also gives the ppm/EC value you should hit if you use those concentrations. Once you mix your solution you should double-check your pH (generally you want between 5.5-6.5 for tomatoes and peppers) and EC or TDS values. EC is electrical conductivity, a measure of any dissolved salts (nutrients) that affect the conductivity of your solution. Basically, the higher the EC, the more nutrients/salts are dissolved in the solution. EC is measured in mS/cm or millisiemens per centimeter. TDS is total dissolved solids and is measured in parts per million (ppm). I have an EC meter so I start off at 0.8-1 for seedlings and go up to 1.6-2.0 for full-size plants. I keep the lights on 18 hours per day when they are still growing but drop them down to 12 hours per day once fruiting begins. As far as what type of water to use, you should ideally have your water tested by a water laboratory to determine if it is good enough to use for hydroponics. I have yet to have mine tested but since I have softened water, I switched from sodium chloride to potassium chloride as a softener which is more expensive but better for plants. If you have water that is unacceptable for hydroponics, you can consider a reverse osmosis system or use distilled water. ConclusionHopefully, this post and the pictures help explain how to set up a Dutch Bucket system. If you have any questions, feel free to comment or send me a message! Make Your Own Seed TapesI love seed tapes for lots of vegetables that are directly sown, but I particularly love them for those that have small seeds, which makes them hard to sow thinly. If I sow the seed too thick, I must then spend hours every summer thinning my plants, or I end up with skinny, stunted plants. My favorite vegetable to use seed tapes for is carrots, as I have difficulty getting these seeds thin enough when sowing. I have even tried mixing the carrot seed with sand and using a shaker to spread the seed more evenly, but I still end up with carrots too close together. The convenience and speed of planting seed tapes are also nice as you can just lay them down and top them with soil (just don’t try it on a windy day). The big disadvantage to seed tapes is that they are much more expensive than just buying the seeds alone. Additionally, the varieties you can buy them in are limiting. My favorite part of gardening is trying lots of different varieties, but generally, you can only get very common varieties in tape form. Although making seed tapes is time-consuming, I find that I prefer to spend my time in the late winter making my seed tapes, when I am less busy rather than taking the time to thin plants in the summer, when I am much busier. Plus, most gardeners I know have a hard time thinning as they hate to kill any plant. I found two common methods online to DIY seed tapes. One method is to use school glue and the other is to use a flour-water mixture. I tried the flour-water mixture first and it worked so well that I have never bothered to try the glue method. You will need toilet paper (either one-ply or pull the two-ply apart so you use one sheet), toothpicks or a paintbrush, a small container to mix flour and water in until you get a runny paste, and a tape measure. The steps are simple: The flour mixture is dotted out at set intervals and a seed placed in each dot (left). The flour mixture is placed along the entire bottom/side edge of seed tape to seal (center). Seed tape is folded over to seal it and labeled with the variety (right).
Lastly, some lessons I learned using seed tapes:
Meat Birds: A Comparison of Cornish Cross, Ranger, and Dual- Purpose ChickensThere are three main types of chickens that are commonly raised for meat production. The Cornish cross are the most common meat bird in the United States. The Ranger-type chicken is becoming more popular with homesteads, backyard flocks, smaller commercial farms, and hobby farms, as many of their traits are in between the Cornish cross and the dual-purpose bird. The last type is the dual-purpose chicken (good for both meat and eggs), which is also very popular with homesteads, backyard flocks, and hobby farms, for the obvious reason that you can get both eggs and meat from the same birds. Cornish CrossThere are many misconceptions regarding the Cornish cross chicken. They are simply a hybrid bird (the parents are two different strains of chickens), that have been selected for by breeding programs since approximately 1916. They are NOT genetically modified. Cornish cross chickens generally have male Cornish and female white Plymouth Rock parents, although this can vary from hatchery to hatchery. If the female parent is a Plymouth Rock strain, these chickens are also sometimes called Cornish Rock chickens. Some hatcheries may use another strain in place of the Plymouth Rock female. The Cornish game hen, or Rock Cornish game hen that you buy in the grocery store is the exact same type of chicken, just processed much younger so it weighs less than 2 pounds. Cornish Cross: The GoodCornish cross chickens are a great choice for people raising meat birds for the first time. I will discuss each of these positive points in further detail below.
Cornish cross chickens are the fastest growing chicken, they are generally processed by 8 weeks at the latest, although commercial farms can get them to processing weight even faster (this is not a positive in my opinion). We usually process our Cornish cross chickens at 7 weeks because at this point they start to look uncomfortable and are much less active. In general, Cornish cross chickens have a feed conversion ratio of approximately 2. This means that for every 2 pounds of food eaten, they gain 1 pound of weight, which is an incredible ratio for meat production. Commercial farms can get this number even lower. We have found our Cornish cross chickens to be curious and friendly. They follow our daughter around and are not scared to come close and check things out. We have however, mostly raised female Cornish cross chickens so this attitude could differ with males, although I think this is unlikely given how young they are when processed (the males do not have time to become sexually mature and get aggressive). The Cornish were bred not just for their fast growth rate and large breasts but also to have fewer feathers and “hair” than other chickens. Some of our Cornish still have a few bald patches even at 7 weeks. This makes them much easier to pluck than many other breeds of chickens. Cornish Cross: The Bad Cornish cross chickens do have a bad reputation for various reasons much of which is either untrue, undeserved, or depends on how they are raised. I will discuss each “negative” point in more detail below.
As I mentioned earlier, Cornish cross chickens are a hybrid-type chicken, they are not genetically modified. To my knowledge, no animal for meat consumption is currently approved and on the market that has been genetically modified. Additionally, in my personal and scientific opinion (I have my PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology) not all genetic modification is bad and each situation must be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Cornish cross chickens can have leg problems due to their extremely fast weight gain. However, leg issues can be dramatically decreased by removing their food for 8-12 hours at night starting at 1-2 weeks of age. We had one chicken in our 2 years of raising them (out of ~30 birds) that lost the ability to walk, however this occurred at a young age and was unlikely due to the size of the bird. We also pasture our birds, which means we let them free range during the day, this helps keep them more active than if they are confined in close quarters. Another strategy is to place their food and water out in the pasture, not in the chicken tractor or coop so as to encourage movement. Also place the food separate from the water so they must move between the two to eat and drink (just not too far!). Last, as mentioned above we generally raise female chickens so they do not get as large as male birds and this may reduce the chance of leg problems (although I have never raised straight run or all male to compare, so this is just a guess). Cornish cross chickens also have a reputation for simply falling over dead. This can be true. Again, we had one bird in our 2 years raising them (out of ~30 birds) that we found dead for no apparent reason. This was likely due to a heart problem. These birds can grow so quickly that their organs, in particular their hearts, cannot keep up with their growth rate and they can have a heart attack and die. Again, this problem can be greatly reduced by both restricting their feed and pasturing them to slow their growth. One last note is that because these are hybrid birds, each hatchery has its own unique strain of Cornish cross that they have developed. So, if you have bad luck with your birds (leg problems or falling over dead), even with proper management, you can try again with another hatchery to see if their mix of Cornish cross chickens is better. Another myth that is common with Cornish cross and chickens in general is that they are given hormones to make them grow faster. This is not true, and no chicken is allowed to be given hormones in the United States. So, if you see chicken in the grocery store labeled hormone-free, this is just a marketing technique as all chicken sold in the US is hormone free (except for the natural hormones that the chickens make themselves). The Cornish have already been selected to grow so quickly that even if growth hormones were allowed to be given it would not make sense from an economical perspective. Many people who are in favor of pasture-raised chicken are decidedly against Cornish cross chickens. The reason for this is that many people believe that Cornish cross will never free range. This can be true, and again depends on how they are raised. If you raise them in a coop with the food inside, even with an open door to a pasture, they will likely rarely leave the coop. But if you get them out on pasture as early as possible, preferably in a chicken tractor that can be moved daily, and place their food on the grass, it will encourage them to forage and scratch around in the grass. We try to get our chickens out on pasture by 3 weeks of age but depending on weather that sometimes gets delayed to 4 weeks. You can, however, give them weeds, grass, lettuce, greens, bugs etc. from an early age so that they know what to do once they are out on pasture. The truth is Cornish cross will never free range like a “normal” chicken, but with proper housing and management they will forage some and not just sit in front of their feeder eating all day. Ranger ChickensRanger chickens, like the Cornish cross, are a hybrid chicken that have been developed as a fast-growing meat bird. However, Rangers are more of a heritage-type bird, that grow more slowly than the Cornish cross, they do not develop the large breasts like the Cornish, and also free range more extensively than the Cornish. Again, like the Cornish cross, each hatchery has developed its own strain of the Ranger bird so you may see them listed as Red Rangers, Freedom Rangers, Rainbow Rangers, etc. These birds generally are ready for processing at 9-14 weeks. Rangers: The GoodRangers do have several advantages over both Cornish cross chickens and dual-purpose birds.
Although Ranger chickens are not ready for processing in less than 8 weeks, they still grow extremely quickly. We processed our Rangers at 10 weeks and averaged 4.3 lbs/bird compared to our Cornish cross which averaged 4.5 lbs at 7 weeks. Dual purpose by comparison, generally are recommended for processing at 20-22 weeks. We found the Ranger birds to still be relatively friendly and curious. These chickens would follow my daughter around even more than the Cornish cross. The Rangers were only available straight run so we did have a couple males, which showed some signs of aggression, but nothing like our older dual-purpose roosters which actively stalked us in order to attack. The Rangers did free range more than the Cornish, although I am not super impressed by their foraging ability. They still tended to stay close to their chicken tractor and by 10 weeks they were more apt to stay in one place, near their food and water. By comparison, our dual-purpose chickens free range significantly further than the Rangers ever did. There also appears to be a great deal of variation on the behavior of the Ranger chicken from one hatchery to another, not surprising as each strain of Ranger varies from hatchery to hatchery. We have tried 2 different hatcheries for our Ranger birds and prefer one over the other. Rangers from one hatchery were extremely active, to the point where they did not gain weight very quickly. By the time we harvested them we had several birds still in the 3 pound range, even after delaying the processing date by several weeks. Rangers: The BadThere are a few disadvantages to choosing Ranger chickens over Cornish cross.
The Rangers are more expensive to raise than the Cornish cross. First, they cost more to buy from the hatchery, about twice what Cornish cross costs. Although they free range more than the Cornish which may reduce their feed consumption, you need to keep them around at least 2-4 weeks longer than the Cornish which likely negates any feed savings. We found the male Rangers we raised to be more aggressive than the couple Cornish cross males we raised. These are small numbers so may not be significant, but the Rangers were much harder in general to keep under control on processing day compared to the more docile Cornish cross. The Rangers supposedly have more “hair” and are harder to pluck clean than the Cornish cross. We did not find this to be true. However, we used a Yardbird plucking machine (worth every penny if you plan on processing large numbers of birds!) so this may not hold true if you are hand plucking. Rangers: The Good or Bad There are some attributes to the Ranger chicken that can be perceived as good or bad depending on personal preference.
As far as the meat and taste of the birds this is mostly personal preference. The rangers have much smaller breasts than the Cornish cross. So, if you are a fan of white meat on a bird then the Cornish cross would be a better choice. The Rangers have more dark meat, although you do get a fair amount of white breast meat on these birds, but it is probably half what you get on a Cornish cross. Last, we found the main taste difference to just be the amount of grease present in the Rangers. Even when processing we would find large patches of yellow fat in their abdominal cavity. When cooking a Ranger versus a Cornish cross side-by-side the Ranger produced noticeably more drippings than the Cornish cross. We did not find that the meat of the Ranger to be more tough or gamey, even though they are the more active bid. The Ranger may have slightly more flavor, but this was not significant enough to sway us one way or the other. One last point on the flavor and moistness of these birds, we have found that the best way to cook whole chickens is to spatchcock them in which you cut out the backbone and lay them flat. This allows them to cook much more quickly, and they are delicious, particularly when grilled, although they can be cooked in the oven as well. Seriously, look up spatchcocking and try it, you will not regret it! Dual-Purpose ChickensThese chickens are the classic heritage-type chickens that your grandparents or great-grandparents may have raised if they had a farm or a backyard flock. These have now become very popular on small homesteads, hobby farms and in backyard flocks. These are the most versatile birds but also the most expensive to raise if you are only interested in meat. These birds are great if you want both eggs and meat but only want to raise one type of bird or if you want a self-sustaining population. Both the Cornish and Rangers are hybrid birds and so it is not recommended that you try to breed them yourself. However, many people raise and breed dual-purpose birds. A broody female can hatch a new batch every spring or you can collect the eggs and use an incubator. Any males that hatch can be used for meat (or as a replacement rooster) and the females can be used for either eggs or meat. This method does require that you keep a rooster around, so the eggs are fertilized, which may not be allowed depending on where you live. This last summer we purchased an incubator and hatched 8 new chicks (out of 12 eggs) that will be additional layers this spring. We will also keep one or two roosters as replacements for our overly aggressive rooster that had to be culled in the fall. Dual-Purpose: The GoodThere are several advantages to raising dual-purpose chickens.
Dual-Purpose: The BadThere are a few disadvantages to raising dual-purpose meat birds.
Dual-purpose birds are the most expensive type of chicken to raise for meat as you need to keep them around for approximately 20 weeks to reach a decent weight. We had a couple dual-purpose roosters that we processed at 18 weeks, and both were in the 4-5 lb range. But, one bird only made it to 3 lbs at 18 weeks. We processed our birds early as one became aggressive and would attack our ducks. The other downside to dual-purpose chickens is that if allowed to free-range they ravage flower beds and scratch out the woood mulch into the grass. They also ate my vegetable seedlings that I kept on my porch to be hardened off before planting in the garden. Also, chicken poop on the porch or in your garage (yes, they have been known to wander in our garage if the door is kept open) is not ideal! Dual-Purpose: The Good or Bad Dual-purpose chickens, like Rangers also have some good or bad characteristics depending on personal preference.
These birds have very little breast meat, and so are similar to the Rangers. If you prefer white meat, these are not a good choice. They do have significantly more dark meat and at 18 weeks we did not find them tough at all, even though they ranged extensively. If you butcher your old dual-purpose laying hens or allow the roosters to get too old, you may find they are tough and better suited to the stew pot or pressure cooker (although we tried pressure cooking an older rooster and still found the meat tough and difficult to eat). I found that I liked the dual—purpose chickens the best as far as flavor and they were significantly less greasy than the Rangers. SummaryWhich type of bird you choose is mostly a matter of personal preference. We enjoyed all three types of birds and I think we will likely raise all of them in the future. If you are short on time, money, or space then the Cornish are the best choice. If you prefer white meat, then Cornish are also the better choice. If, however, you prefer dark meat and want a bird that is a little more like a dual-purpose chicken, then the Rangers are the way to go due to their shorter time to maturity. In my opinion if you raise both Cornish and Rangers on pasture, many of their differences are minimized. I also strongly believe that meat birds (and egg layers too!) should be raised on pasture and should not be kept confined indoors for the entirety of their life. Lastly, if you are interested in both eggs and meat then the dual-purpose chickens are a great choice, particularly if you do not have the space to raise more than one type of bird. I also highly recommend chicken tractors as a great way to raise any type of chicken! We usually put-up temporary fencing to allow the meat birds to forage outside of the chicken tractor during the day, but if you are willing to move the tractor every day they can be left inside to forage, which also keeps them safe from predators. As I mentioned in my previous post, garden huckleberries are a unique berry in the nightshade family. They are toxic when unripe, have little taste when ripe, but when fully ripe AND cooked, they are absolutely delicious and make a beautiful dark purple jam. After making a batch of garden huckleberry preserves, we still had quite a few berries left over in the freezer. Since my husband and I love fermentation we decided to experiment with a one-gallon test batch of garden huckleberry wine. We both have a Bachelor’s degree in biology and I also have a concentration in microbiology so we enjoy the science behind fermented foods and drinks, although neither one of us is an expert. Thus far we have made kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi, wine and beer from kits, mead, and now garden huckleberry wine. We also currently have a maple wine (which smells absolutely delicious!) undergoing secondary fermentation and will hopefully be the subject of a future blog post. This summer we also would like to experiment with dandelion wine and a spruce-tip beer. We planted wine grapes on our property in the spring of 2017 which will hopefully produce their first grapes this summer (2019) on 3-year-old vines. These grapes, Marquette, are a red grape well suited to our climate (zone 4) however, they can be acidic as short/cool season grapes often have difficulty fully ripening. Therefore, blending is often used to reduce acidity and increase sugar content of these grapes if needed. However, as more growers are cultivating the Marquette variety, they are having success producing a very nice dry red wine or slightly sweet port that is not overly acidic. We are hoping in addition to making 100% Marquette wine we could also find some fruit or other grapes varieties to use for blending. Blackberries or raspberries are commonly used to make a delicious berry-Marquette port. When we realized we had extra garden huckleberries we thought it would be good to practice making wine from scratch rather than a kit and also possibly find a good fruit to blend with the Marquette grapes. In this post, I will assume that the reader already has some experience fermenting. If not, a good place to start is to buy a wine or beer kit, to first determine if you enjoy brewing. Once, you have tried a few kits, read a few books, looked at some websites, and/or listened to some podcasts, it is much easier to experiment with fermenting from scratch. To make our garden huckleberry wine we modified a recipe for blueberry wine (see our modified recipe below). As garden huckleberries must be cooked to bring out their flavor, I first cooked the berries with a little water and crushed them with a potato masher to release the juices. I cooked them for about 20 minutes added 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, cooked an additional 5 minutes, and then added the sugar to the berries and mixed until dissolved. Garden huckleberries are a very tough fruit with an almost leathery skin so in the future I may use an immersion blender to help pulverize the berries rather than just a potato masher. After the sugar was dissolved, we brought the water up to 1 gallon. At this point you can check the specific gravity to make sure the sugar content is correct, generally you want to start wines around 1.090 depending on what you would like your final alcohol concentration to be. When making a fruit wine you would generally add in one Campden tablet/gallon or potassium metabisulfite at the correct concentration to kill any wild yeast on the berries. Since we had just boiled our berries, I assumed most wild yeasts would be killed and skipped this step. We then added the tannin, acid blend, pectic enzyme, and yeast nutrient and mixed well. I am not sure if both the lemon juice and acid blend are necessary and may skip the lemon juice next time. The pectic enzyme will digest the pectin in the fruit which otherwise could make the must gelatinous; also excess pectin will also leave your wine hazy and keep it from clarifying properly. Yeast nutrient is used to help give the yeast a boost, yeast energizer can also be added or you can buy them already mixed together under specific brand names. If fermentation slows before completion you can spike in more nutrient and/or energizer to help push fermentation to completion. Some brewers also like to add in grape juice concentrate to their fruit wines, which increases sugar content so make sure to adjust final sugar levels to the correct specific gravity after mixing this in. This will also make your wine fruitier. As we wished to see what a pure garden huckleberry wine tasted like, we did not add any grape juice concentrate. The last step is to add the yeast. Since we had boiled the berries it was important to make sure the must was not too hot, you generally want it around room temperature. We used Lalvin K1-V1116 yeast which is supposed to be good for fruit wines and also has a high alcohol tolerance (18%). This was also important since we wanted to make sure it would ferment to dryness. We dry pitched the yeast and stirred it in, however, most yeast packets will recommend activating the yeast prior to pitching. If you activate first, make sure you follow the instructions exactly as written, otherwise you may shock the yeast too much which will prevent fermentation from starting. We fermented in a 2-gallon bucket fermenter that we had cleaned with one-step cleanser and sterilized with potassium metabisulfite. Make sure everything that comes in contact with your must is as sterile as possible. After everything was mixed well, we covered the fermenter with a lid containing an airlock to let out the CO2 gas released during fermentation. Generally, you should see bubbling in the airlock within 24-48 hours. With most fruit wines you want to stir the must 1-2 times per day, otherwise the fruit cap will stay on the top and you will have less flavor and color released into the liquid. The more the cap comes in contact with the liquid. the more color, flavor, etc. will be released into the wine. The wine will likely ferment for approximately 2 weeks or even longer depending on the type of yeast used. When bubbling starts to slow you can start testing the specific gravity with your hydrometer and when it reaches 1.010-1.020 you can rack it to a secondary fermenter (a 1 gallon glass carboy/jug) or you can leave it in the primary until it completes fermentation (specific gravity less than 1). Before racking you must strain out the berries and debris and move the wine to a cooler place if possible, to clear. Every week or two, as more debris settles you can rack to a new 1-gallon jug. At this point if fermentation is complete you can cap the jug or use a bung and not worry about the airlock. Make sure fermentation is 100% complete as we have had a batch of mead blow the bung out of the jug when we removed the airlock too soon. You can also add a Campden tablet after each racking or just wait before bottling if you do not like to have too high of sulfite levels in your wine. I do not like to use more than 2 tablets/gallon of wine total. Those who are sensitive to sulfites may wish to try even less or skip it altogether although this does increase the risk of contamination. Once the wine has clarified to your liking you can bottle the wine and age it, generally 3-6 months minimum. If you prefer a sweeter wine you can back sweeten before bottling but you must add in potassium sorbate to prevent fermentation in the bottle. You can also add in potassium sorbate if you wish to age your wine longer and prevent spoilage. We tasted a glass of our wine before bottling and were very impressed by its taste. It was slightly sour (maybe skipping the lemon juice next time would be better), slightly bitter and tannic, with definite flavors of garden huckleberries. Although it started out as a very dark purple color it mellowed to a more red-purple color. If you prefer your wines with more intense flavors you can add more than 3 lbs of fruit and if you prefer them lighter, you can add less. Overall, we liked the initial flavor of the wine well enough that I started dozens of garden huckleberry plants this spring (as opposed to the 6 plants we had last year) so we can hopefully make a larger 3-5 gallon batch next year. Garden Huckleberry Wine Recipe (1 Gallon)3 lbs berries (garden huckleberries, blueberries, or other berries) 1 T lemon juice ~1.8 lbs sugar 0.5 tsp acid blend 0.5 tsp pectic enzyme 0.6 tsp yeast nutrient 0.2 tsp tannin Campden tablets (1 tablet per gallon) 1 package yeast (Lalvin EC-1118, Lalvin 71B-1122, Lalvin K1-V1116, or others) Although I was unsure about garden huckleberries as they are a member of the nightshade family and are toxic until fully ripe, I decided to try growing them summer 2018. I was pleasantly surprised by the plants as they were extremely easy to grow even with a particularly difficult growing season, which included an early-mid summer drought and mid-summer hail. However, I only needed to harvest them one time at the end of the season which is much easier than many other berries that must be picked every day or two. However, once I made and tasted garden huckleberry preserves, I became a huge fan of the little berries. Garden huckleberries are not true huckleberries (family Ericaceae; genera Vaccinium and Gaylussacia) nor are they blueberries which are a type of huckleberry in the Vaccinium genera along with cranberries and bilberries. Instead, garden huckleberries are scientifically known as Solanum scabrum, a member of the nightshade family. Garden huckleberries are generally grown as annuals, and as such are one of the fastest ways of cultivating fruit. You do not need to wait 3-5 years to start harvesting fruit like many of the fruit trees and bushes that are more commonly available. Also, garden huckleberries do not take up tons of space in the garden but, do plan to allocate space similar to a tomato plant. Although nightshade plants can be very scary due to their well-known toxicity, many of our commonly grown crops are in the same nightshade family, including tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, tobacco, and potatoes. The biggest obstacle I had growing garden huckleberries was not being able to tell when they were fully ripe. I live in Wisconsin so our growing season (zone 4) is short. Although garden huckleberries have only 75 days to maturity, I still found that many berries did not completely ripen before our first frost which is usually around the end of September, even though they had significantly more than 75 days to mature. I also started them from seed inside before transplanting at the end of May to give them even more time to mature. Many berries ripened to a black color throughout the summer and supposedly once they turn black and glossy, if you wait 2 more weeks, they will turn a dull black color indicating they are fully ripe and also no longer toxic. However, I found that the berries ripened at different times and it was too much work to try and pick out just the ripe ones. However, these are tough berries and generally do not get overripe so I decided to just let them on the plant until the fall. A mild frost is also supposed to enhance their flavor as well so this was another reason to wait. I finally harvested the night before our first “hard” frost. Literally, my family, including my in-laws, ran out to the garden in the dark using our car lights to see, and harvested all the berries before they froze. The hardest part of this whole process actually occurred after harvest. I spent a long time sorting ripe from unripe berries and making sure all the stems were removed. Some berries may look fully black but still have a tinge of green and if you cut them in half you will find the inside has not yet changed color. I threw out any berries that I could tell were obviously unripe. Since fall/early winter is crazy for my business I decided to just wash the berries and freeze them on a baking sheet before transferring them to freezer bags. I then forgot about them until January when the worst of the holiday rush was done. Once I had more time, I decided to try making garden huckleberry preserves. I am a huge fan of Tyrant Farms so I decided to use their recipe. These are not well-known berries and there is not a ton of information out there about them. However, one of the keys to these berries is that they must be cooked for their flavor to develop. If you eat them unripe, they are toxic, if you eat them ripe but raw, they should no longer be toxic but they really have no taste or maybe a slightly bitter taste. Trust me, you will not want to pop another one in your mouth. However, as I found out after tasting the cooked preserves, they taste absolutely delicious. The flavor is somewhat like blueberry jam. Some recipes recommend cooking them with baking soda to remove bitter flavors, but I found this was not necessary at all. Just make sure you are using fully ripe berries. A long cooking time is recommended as the skins are very tough, slightly leathery, and the berries can be hard to pop. After making a batch of the preserves, I still had several pounds of berries remaining in the freezer so we decided to try making some garden huckleberry wine (yum!) which will be the topic of my next post once we get it bottled. All About DucksIn the interest of full disclosure, I have only been a duck owner for about 6 months so if you really do want to learn all about ducks please read a much more thorough source such as Dave Holderread’s book “Storey’s Guide to Raising Ducks.” However, I would like to cover several key pieces of information about being a duck owner, preferably before you take the plunge into duck ownership! As of this publication, we have 7 ducks that are about 26 weeks old. We chose our ducks mostly based on their egg-laying ability and purchased six females consisting of three different breeds and one lucky Pekin male. The following are 10 helpful tips about ducks. 1. Ducks Love Water I know this seems very obvious, but until you have had personal experience watching ducks around water it is hard to convey how much they truly love water. We introduced our ducks to water around 4 weeks old while under supervision. It is possible for ducks to drown or get too chilled from the water when young so always watch them carefully! Our ducks immediately took to water, well, like a duck to water! Although ducks do not “need” swimming water, they do need drinking water deep enough to wash out their nostrils and to help wash down their food. You can provide ducks with swimming water occasionally via a kiddie pool, however, it is much easier if you have a large enough pond for them to swim on as this eliminates the need for frequent water changes. Kiddie pool water stays clean for all of about two seconds! Ponds, however, also present their own set of challenges, which I will cover below (point #6). 2. Niacin Supplementation Really Is Important One of the biggest challenges of keeping ducks is that it can be hard to find duck-specific food. Therefore, most duck owners end up feeding their ducks either chicken food or an all-flock type food. However, one potential problem with this is that most chicken feeds do not have enough niacin (a B vitamin) for proper duckling leg development. This a bigger problem with some breeds than others depending on their specific nutritional needs and how quickly they grow. In general, all ducks grow very fast, faster than most chickens, and this is reflected in their food quality and quantity requirements. We did not begin giving niacin supplements with our ducks immediately but we did offer sweet peas (the bagged frozen kind from the grocery store) which are high in niacin. We also offered a mixed food of chick starter and all flock starter assuming the all flock would be higher in niacin as it is formulated for chickens, ducks, and turkeys, the latter two which have higher niacin requirements. If you want to know the actual concentration of niacin in a feed you generally have to call the manufacturer. However, at about 4 weeks we noticed our Pekin duck who was growing the fastest, was having difficulty getting up and walking. So, we began supplementing with niacin pills that we crushed into their water (100 mg/gallon). It is important that the niacin pills are straight niacin or niacinamide and not the flush-free niacin which ducks cannot metabolize. This can be hard to find so we ended up going to our local independent health food store. When we did not see any improvement within a few days we also started supplementing their food with nutritional yeast (brewers yeast is also a good option) as yeast is high in B vitamins. We now use livestock yeast from our local feed store which is not as concentrated but can be purchased in 50 lb bags and is much cheaper. We use roughly 1 cup of livestock yeast for every 10 cups of food. Last, we bought a B complex supplement available at our local vitamin store in an eye dropper form and dosed just our Pekin with a half dropperful per day (~10 mg). Since niacin is a water-soluble vitamin you do not really need to worry about overdosing. Additionally, as any duck owner knows, the majority of duck water ends up on the ground and much of the yeast supplement ends up in the bottom of the food bowl. It took about a month of intense supplementation before we started noticing a big difference in Pekin’s ability to walk. At the same time, we also introduced our ducks to swimming water so Pekin in particular could get some exercise without hurting his legs further. Now our ducks spend most of their time in the water but even on land Pekin walks great, although he always lags behind the smaller duck breeds just due to his greater size and weight. 3. Ducks Love Treats This may also be an obvious statement (who doesn’t love treats?) but ducks are very food motivated and love treats! This is a great tool for training as they are not the quickest learners (see the point below). However, ducks can easily become overweight so choose treats wisely, and sparingly. Bread and other bread-type products are very bad for ducks and provide little nutritional value! Our favorite duck treats are peas, cherry tomatoes (cut in half), and most greens which may or may not be nutritionally good for them depending on the type (iceberg lettuce vs kale). Peas are great because you can buy them frozen and never worry about seasonality and not having them on hand (winter in central Wisconsin limits our choices!). We also give scratch grains occasionally but these are not nutritionally complete so should never be given in excess of 10% of their diet. Scratch grains are great for the winter however, because they are easy to keep on hand and the extra carbohydrates help keep the ducks warm. 4. All Ducks are Not Created Equal There are a large number of duck breeds to choose from, although not as many as there are chicken breeds. We made our selection based mostly on their egg-laying ability. Our first duck began laying at 20 weeks and a second started at 21 weeks. We are now up to 4 eggs per day so still have two ducks that have not begun laying. As we are quickly approaching winter in central Wisconsin (mid-November), they may not begin laying until Spring which is fine for us as 4 eggs per day is more than my family of three needs. We chose to purchase our ducks from Metzer Farms as they have a good reputation and offered all the types of ducks we were interested in. We put in an order for 10 ducks to avoid a small order fee but split that order with a friend. We ended up with two female Golden 300 Hybrid, two female Khaki Campbell, two female Welch Harlequin, and one male Pekin. They are all supposed to be relatively calm ducks, except for the Khaki’s which have a more nervous disposition and they are all great to good egg layers. All of our ducks seem relatively nervous to me but that could also be due to the fact that we have an energetic 6-year-old (enough said!). Other than egg-laying ability and disposition, we have also noticed other differences among the various duck breeds. The biggest difference is intelligence. Although no duck is going to be in the running for smartest bird (I think they depend more on instinct) we have noticed that the Khaki Campbell’s are clearly the smartest. They are the first to learn new routines, the first to master going up and down ramps (Pekin and the Welchies never really did learn before we let them loose on the pond), and usually the first to come into their house at night (although this may be more food motivation than actual intelligence). It is not unusual for Pekin and the Welch Harlequin’s to get confused leaving their house in the morning. If the other ducks beat them out of their run they sometimes try to walk through the fencing, the most direct route to the rest of their flock, rather than go through the door. Decide what traits in ducks are most important to you before falling in love with a specific breed. We really wanted runner ducks because they look awesome (think wine bottles with legs) but they are notorious for their nervous disposition. With a small child this duck breed was not a good choice for our family. 5. Ducks Love Each Other Ducks are flock animals. They love/need to be around other ducks so you should never get just one duck. They also get really stressed if they are separated from their flock. So be sure you plan a duck house for a flock of ducks, at least 2-3 ducks. Additionally, if you decide to get a male duck (a drake), make sure you have enough females. Depending on the breed, a single male usually needs 4-8 female ducks, otherwise he can actually hurt or even kill the females from overbreeding! 6. To Pond or not to Pond There are many duck owners who do not have ponds and there is nothing wrong with this as long as you provide fresh water daily and if possible occasional swims in a kiddie pool or something similar. We have a large pond so it was an easy decision to get ducks (no hauling water or cleaning out a kiddie pool). However, ponds do come with their own challenges. The biggest obstacle we have faced is getting the ducks off the pond at night. This is where treats and proper training come into play. Our ducks slowly became adjusted to our pond and over several months explored the shore of the entire pond and also cleaned out a lot of the muck and weeds. However, one night the ducks decided they no longer wished to come off the pond. This happened around 17 weeks when there was plenty of forage for them on the pond and they began to become sexually mature and our male Pekin got his drake feather (a curly feather at his tail that only male ducks get). So, we spent 1-2 hours trying to encourage our ducks back into their house, which involved my husband paddling around the pond in a canoe after dark. After this we decided to only give the ducks treats on land, near their house, and withhold their food from them during the day. They now get fed at night and in the morning but very limited treats and food during the day. This method has worked well although it is not foolproof. If we have a day or two where they give us difficulty coming in off the pond, we keep them in their house/run for a few days so they re-associate it with home, which helps re-train them. I am hoping once the pond freezes this winter, they will also be less inclined to stay out at night. 7. Ducks Love Routine If you want to train ducks, for example, to come into their coop at night, use a ramp, or use a certain door, you basically need to keep the same routine for 1-2 weeks or even as long as two months. They are not the fastest learners and treats go a long way in helping them learn a routine. We are currently transitioning our ducks to a new duck house with a larger back run. For their first 6 months we had them in a chicken/duck tractor which we moved every few days but this seemed to stress out and confuse the ducks, even if it only moved a few feet. Since we wanted a permanent coop with a larger secure run where we could leave them overnight or even for a weekend without worrying, we decided build one this fall. We moved the ducks into their almost complete new coop/run about two week ago. We kept them enclosed and off the pond for the entire first week so that they will associate their new coop with home and will follow us back into the run every night using treats as motivation. Although there was some confusion the first time we let them out they did return to their new coop quite easily using peas as motivation. 8. Duck Eggs Taste Delicious We were a little nervous about getting ducks for eggs since we had never even eaten duck eggs. Sometimes eggs can have off flavors if the ducks derive a large portion of their nutrition from a pond. Since our ducks spent the entire summer on the pond, cleaning out the muck and water plants, we were definitely hesitant about trying our first egg. Of course, like all free-range poultry the yolks were a much darker orange than commercial eggs. The eggs are also much harder to crack, their shell is thicker, and the membrane inside is tough to puncture. The yolks and whites are much firmer as well which makes them harder to scramble. Duck eggs also generally have bigger yolks and smaller whites compared to large chicken eggs and their eggs tend to be larger as well depending on the breed. However, the eggs themselves are delicious, they tend to be creamier than chicken eggs, likely due to their larger yolks, which makes bakers love them. Overall, there is no reason to avoid duck eggs and many reasons to try them. One caveat is that you can be allergic to duck eggs and not chicken eggs, but the reverse is also true and some people allergic to chicken eggs have found they can eat duck eggs! 9. Ducks are Cold Hardy When we were deciding whether to get egg-laying chickens or ducks one of our biggest considerations was weather. We live in central Wisconsin and although there are many colder places in the US, this is by far the coldest place I have ever lived. Although there are several hardy chicken breeds, ducks are better at dealing with cold and wet climates. Chickens will not generally go out into the snow or rain, but ducks not only go out, they absolutely love it! We live in Zone 4 so it is not unusual for winters to get at low as -20 to -30 °F with wind chills. Although ducks still need a good shelter to protect from both predators and the weather, they are much better equipped to deal with cold weather than are chickens. 10. Ducks are Highly Entertaining My last point is that ducks are highly entertaining! Yes, they can be frustrating to train. Yes, they are much messier than chickens (although significantly less messy when free-ranging on a pond). Yes, they can be stubborn. Yes, I have gotten extremely frustrated when it is dark outside and they will not come off the pond after trying for 2 hours to get them back on shore. But ducks are super fun which makes up for everything else! They, will follow you around if you have treats, or they think you have treats, they talk to each other constantly, they love playing in water, mud, or snow, and if you get them as ducklings, they just might be the cutest animals ever! |
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AuthorIn 2016, my family and I moved from the New York City area to small town Wisconsin. Our move, this website and blog (and our previous Etsy store) is the result of our desire over the past several years to simplify our lives, increase our quality of life, reconnect with nature, and enjoy a more self-sufficient life. I grew up as a country kid in central Pennsylvania working on my grandfather's fruit farm and as a corn "de-tassler" at a local seed farm. My background is in biology where my love of nature originated. I am a former research scientist and professor and have now transitioned to a part-time stay-at-home mom, self-employed tutor, and small business owner. Thank you for taking the time to check out my site. Archives
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