Spring Fever- Gardening Edition

The last couple of weeks have been an absolute whirlwind.

I'm not at all complaining- in fact, I'm at my best when I'm busy.

Spring Fever is really starting to get to me. Spring is right around the corner and today it's supposed to be in the 50's. The harsh reality, is that tomorrow it will be like 10 degrees- winter in the Midwest can be very challenging and frustrating if you're a gardener.

Maybe my case of Spring Fever is especially difficult this year, because my customers are lining up Spring orders for their garden centers.We're also getting prepared to start hundreds of seeds for the Heritage Hill Farm's Community Supported Agriculture program. Either way, I'm surrounded by Spring and ready to get outside and get busy.

So, the next few weeks are going to be full of gardening adventures- to tide us all over.

Starting this weekend, I'm going to feature some of the best new plants for the season that are really getting us gardeners and our industry looking ahead to Spring.

I'll also show you how to make your own pots for seed starting- out of newspapers and egg cartons- that can be directly transplanted outside after our frost free date. After Valentine's Day, I will keep you updated on the seed starting progress- especially with all of our interesting heirloom vegetables. 

 Lots of great things are to come!

Here is a link to our farm:
http://www.heritage-hill-farms.com/

Etsy Shop Is Now Officially Open!

Home in the Heartland, my etsy shop is officially open! 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/120288609/hunters-star-quilt-made-with-cheery

I went to Iowa State for Apparel Merchandise, Design & Production and Horticulture. I have always been interested in textiles and finished my share of sewing classes. Long before that, I entered 4-H competitions at our county fair.

I've been getting back into my projects. Typically I work on the fabric coordination and piecing on the winter weekends. I leave the quilting part to my friend, Jenny. She does such an amazing job.

Here is one that I sold earlier, made with Moda's Bliss, a 2009 collection.
I was having a hard time finding some of the fabrics since it was from a couple years back.
Where there's a will, there's a way! 

This is going to be my next project- MoMo's Oh Deer collection!
I really like the colors and fun prints. 

Anxious for Spring!

2013 is officially here!

It's that time of the year when the Holidays are over and that long dreary period of anticipation for Spring begins. We're going stir crazy- or at least I am. What's worse is that the snow is melting we love our snow!

Here's a pic from a couple of weeks ago- the land is absolutely beautiful.
We can't wait to build out there.

So this wait period means that we are planning for our CSA program and markets, which seems like absolute torture right now!

Adam is "Mr. Details" and has been busy calculating where everything is going to be grown. I'm the type of person who will smuggle some plants in a little closer than they need to be, because I don't want them to go to waste or I pick up something interesting at the garden center. I'm guilty and coming clean- sometimes I don't exactly follow the planting widths/ spacing. I have a feeling I will have to this year, especially if you have seen some of these garden plans that Adam is working on. And he has lasers to measure. I'm doomed.

Our first seed starting projects are going to start around Valentine's Day. We know that will come fast, too fast. That's alright though because I have tons of work to do in the meantime- with my work and Adam has his work and deadlines. 

A Very Tucson Christmas

For the Holidays, Adam and I traveled to sunny Arizona.

Adam and I have been so bogged down by deadlines- my work's upcoming meetings and travel, marketing support for work, setting up the farm and the farm website (coming soon- Jan 1st), working on the production plans for our crops, and so many other aspects of our work and farm that could easily be overwhelming.

We needed a break... And I thought December was going to slow down just a bit- I was wrong!

We ended up having a great time with friends and family. We went horseback riding, golfing, shopped at Bon- one of my favorite boutiques of all time, baked cookies, cooked the Christmas pasta for dinner (amazing but very involved- I'll post the recipe), went to Mount Lemmon, enjoyed a giant cookie, and believe it or not- actually relaxed!

Here are some pics of our trip:  

Horseback riding with Lindz (Adam's sister), CiCi (Adam's mom) and myself.

Cookie Cabin!

The Cookie & Snowman

Mt. Lemmon

      My temporary office                

                                                Hope you all had a very nice Holiday
                                                                            & Happy New Year!

The First Crop At Heritage Hill Farm

It is official... we have a farm name and the first crop has been planted.

Heritage Hill Farms came to be, because Adam and I wanted to simply honor the agricultural heritage. We purchased this land from a farm family who has been farming in the area for five generations. As you probably know, I'm also very passionate about heirloom vegetables because of their unique tastes and flavors, plus the stories and folklore that accompanies the varieties. I find it remarkable that gardeners have worked hard generation after generation, to preserve and maintain these varieties that are typically not found in grocery stores because they don't have the shelf life and other commercial attributes. There is also a small hill on the property, where the house will eventually be built.

This Fall, we planted the first farm crop: garlic.

I ordered 3 cultivars of heirloom garlic: Music, Purple Glazer, and Armenian Porcelain. There are two categories: hardneck and softneck. Hardnecks typically have more complex flavors and have a higher perishability, and grow the best in more Northern climates. Softnecks are usually found in the grocery stores because of their longer shelf life.

Music garlic- a wonderful hardneck cultivar

In Iowa, we plant garlic in the Fall. This has been a challenge in the community gardens because the season begins in the Spring. We marked off a small area that was spared from Fall disking, and manually cleared a patch in the cornstalks. We tilled in some sand (because of the heavy clay) and made four and a half rows. Elizabeth and I separated the garlic into cloves and planted several inches apart and approximately 1'' deep. The rows were covered up and mulched. They should be nice and cozy, tucked in for the winter!

We planted approximately 450 cloves of garlic- I hope it's enough!

After they appear in the Spring, we will uncover them and use the mulch as a weed suppressant/ in between the rows. In the Summer, the foliage will dry down and that is the cue for harvesting!

I'm already looking forward to cooking with these great garlics, as well as having others enjoy them! I have lots of fresh dishes and canned pizza sauces that will be just wonderful with the garlic- I just need to be patient- something that I'm not good with. 

Thankful...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our day was filled with lots of baking and cooking, something that Adam and I both really enjoy. Our mashed potatoes were Yukon Gold's from this year's garden, hardly putting a dent in all of the potatoes that we harvested!

Aside from the delicious mashed potatoes, we had the usual Thanksgiving suspects: turkey, green bean casserole, stuffing, rolls, salad and my favorite goat cheese/ pesto and sun dried tomato spread.

This is one of my favorite salad recipes:


Fresh mixed greens
Gorgonzola Cheese Crumbles
Glazed or Candied Walnuts
Sliced Apples or Pears
Dried Cranberries

Dressing- there's no measurements, I usually just mix everything to taste!
Balsamic vinegar
Vegetable oil or olive oil (personally I stay away from olive oil because of an allergic reaction) 
Minced garlic
Brown sugar
Salt and Pepper

Whisk all of these ingredients together and dress the salad- Enjoy!

We also spent some time at the farm, and while there- it is always easy to think of what we are thankful for. We're thankful for great family and friends, an opportunity to purchase an acreage of our own, grow healthy and nutritious food for others and ourselves, and careers that keep us busy.

Pumpkin Spice Scones

As you probably all know, Fall is one of my favorite times of the year!

We (our good friends and us) picked out our pumpkins at the Black's Heritage Farm. This involved a hayrack ride to go get them and we were like kids in a candy store. We were in search of the biggest, perfect pumpkins and then somehow forgot how heavy they can be.

These pumpkins were HUGE and we had thousands to choose from.

Our pumpkins and squash in the garden didn't do so great this year. We had a squash bug epidemic so that means coming up with a game plan over the winter.

Here's another favorite little part of Fall for me: Pumpkin Spice Scones.
There's not doubt about it, pumpkins seem to be the latest flavor trend. My friend introduced me to these and since then, this is what I look forward to with my coffee on a nice crisp, cool morning.

Here's my recipe:

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin (without the spices or sugar)
3 tablespoons half and half cream
1 large egg
6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into cubes

The Glaze (basic powered sugar glaze with traditional spices): 
1 Cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch of ground ginger
pinch of ground cloves

Scones are simple to make. 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Dust lightly with flour.

Then sift the dry ingredients and spices together.
Cut the cubes of cold butter into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter or a food processor, until the consistency is of pea sized crumbs.
In a separate bowl, mix the pumpkin, half and half, and egg in a bowl. Then, fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and knead slightly. Shape into a ball and roll flat with a rolling pin, use flour as needed if the dough is exceptionally sticky. Keep in mind though, that the dough should not stick to the floured surface. Use a pizza cutter to cut into triangles and place on the parchment paper. Bake for approximately 15 minutes. They will turn slightly golden brown.
Place on a baking rack to cool slightly.

Whisk the glaze ingredients together and drizzle over the scones while they are still warm.

Enjoy with a nice pumpkin spice latte if you're feeling especially thankful for Fall! 

Jessica