My thermometer showed that it went down to -1 C on Nov. 14. I’m hoping the cold frame I’m making provides us with greens this winter and that varmints don’t beat me to the harvest. I’ve got some heavy-duty fine mesh steel that I don’t think mice or rats can chew or squeeze through so I’ll make a sheet of it to fit the top of the frame when the lids are open.
This sheet can be held up just inside the frame by strips of wood nailed to the insides of the frame so that the mesh won’t interfere with the hinges on the lids, and I’ll staple wood strips to the mesh to hold it in place. Then I’ll add handles to the mesh strips so I can lift it up as needed, hoping it won’t interfere with the lids. I attached hooks and eyes to the lids to keep them down in strong winds, and will use sticks to keep the windows open on hot days since I read that overheating when the sun is shining is the most common way to kill plants in the cold frame.
The seeds are starting to sprout in flats sitting on a heating pad and under lights, and once they’re a few inches tall, I’ll transplant them into the cold frame, hoping they can survive the cooler soil and that slugs et al don’t find their way into the box. I’ve seeded lettuce, spinach, parsley and radishes so I’ll transplant the radishes first since they develop roots quickly.
Our carrots are starting to split with the rain so I’ll harvest the big ones and keep them in the fridge or a cold room. It’s too bad David doesn’t like squash because I have about 20 pumpkins and 10 acorn squash of various sizes that are ready to come inside for storage. Maybe next year I’ll only plant varieties with hull-less seeds, like “Lady Godiva” and “Naked Pear” because we both like pumpkin seeds. Evidently the original American farmers didn’t care for the squash fruit either because they grew pumpkins for their seeds.
Here’s a good recipe from my mom’s wartime cookbook, a way to prepare leftovers. It’s called Vegetable Pudding.
Directions: for two people mix the gratings of half a pound of potatoes (I like to squeeze out the potato juice first) with a quarter pound of flour. Add salt and season strongly with any kind of vegetable or meat extract. Rub into this 1 oz. of fat and add enough cold vegetable liquor to make a firm dough.
Thickly grease a pudding basin and then line it, in the usual way, with your potato dough, reserving some for the cover. Fill this with parboiled vegetables (I would also add bits of leftover meat or fish). Add enough gravy to cover and place the reserved pastry dough on top.
Steam or boil in the usual way for 50 minutes or an hour.
Note: I looked up how to steam on the internet and the best one I saw was using a crockpot: cover the basin with a piece of parchment paper and foil, tie it down and place it into a crock pot. Add enough water to come half way up the side and turn the crock pot to high. Check with a toothpick after three to four hours to make sure it’s done.
Please contact mary_lowther@yahoo.ca with questions and suggestions since I need all the help I can get.
