Gardening Series: Post 4

The information from this post comes from this site:

Gardening in Containers
Many people who live in apartment buildings or houses with little or no yard space may think they cannot plant a garden. But you can grow quite a bit of food in pots and hanging planters inside your home or on a balcony. Even if your family has plenty of outdoor garden space, you might want to try growing some of your vegetables indoors.

You can plant in almost any kind of container. Try using plastic jugs, garbage cans, milk cartons, cans, plastic bags, baskets, a wagon bed, kitchen canisters, or clay pots. The bottom of the container should have several small drain holes and be lined with 2 to 3 inches of small gravel before you put in the topsoil. Hang containers from windows, put them on windowsills or in window wells; line your sidewalk or driveway with them, or hang them from your ceiling.
The following chart shows you how much dirt you will need in a container to grow some common vegetables. This will give you an idea of what size container you need to use. It also tells you when to plant and harvest the vegetables and how big they will get. These are not the only vegetables that grow well in containers. You can try almost any kind that is common to your area.

COMMON GARDEN CROPS
Crop	Container Needs	Growing Season	Planting Time	Harvest Days	Mature Size of Plant
Beets	1012 inches (2530 centimeters) of soil	Early spring, fall	24 weeks before last frost	5060	1012 inches (2530 centimeters)
Bush Beans	810 inches (2025 centimeters) of soil	Warm weather	Early spring	Snap 5055 Lima 65	1214 inches (3060 centimeters)
Carrots	1012 inches (2530 centimeters)	Early spring, fall	24 weeks before last frost	6075	1012 inches (2530 centimeters)
Cucumbers	1 gallon (4 liters) per plant	Warm weather	34 weeks before last frost	5575	Shape vines by cutting back
Eggplant	3 gallons (11 liters) 1214 inches (3035 centimeters) diameter of soil	Warm weather	Plant indoors, transplant after 8 weeks	120140	23 feet (.51 meter)
Green pepper	1 gallon (3.8 liters) per plant	Warm weather	Plant indoors, transplant after 78 weeks	110120	23 feet (.51 meter)
Lettuce	1 gallon (3.8 liters) per plant	Cool weather, can stand slight frost	46 weeks before last frost	4050	610 inches (1525 centimeters)
Green onions	810 inches (2025 centimeters) of soil	Cool weather, can stand slight frost	46 weeks before last frost	3545	1012 inches (2530 centimeters)
Radishes	6 inches (15 centimeters) of soil	Cool weather, can stand slight frost	24 weeks before last frost	2040	68 inches (1520 centimeters)
Spinach	810 inches (2025 centimeters) per plant	Cool weather, spring, fall	24 weeks before last frost	5070	Plants spread out, do not grow tall
Squash	5 gallons (19 liters) for a 34 plant hill	Warm weather, will produce through fall	34 weeks before last frost	Summer 5060 Winter 85110	Bush 23 feet (.5m1 meter) Vine-pinch off to control runners
Tomatoes	Dwarf: 1 gallon (3.8 liters) Standard: 23 gallons (7.511 liters) Mini: 810 inches (2025 centimeters)	Warm weather	Plant indoors, transplant after 34 weeks. Easily harmed by frost.	5090	Dwarf: 23 feet (.51 meter) Standard: 35 feet (11.5 meters) Standard vines

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Healthy Granola (Finally!!!)

I finally found a good recipe for granola with NO SUGAR! That's right, folks, none whatsoever! On top of that it is very low in fat and very tasty!! I just made it Saturday and it's almost gone. Thanks for the recipe Food and Whine! I love it and will be making it often!

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Pressure Cooker Hard Boiled Eggs

I'm so excited to find another great use for my electric pressure cooker! And just in time for Easter. Here's the link to making perfect hard boiled (or soft boiled) eggs in your pressure cooker!. I tried it today for lunch and the eggs came out perfect. And it's so much easier than boiling them on the stove!!

I put the eggs on the trivet and used canning lids to separate my eggs so that they wouldn't bump into each other (see the picture).

This way you can do several at a time - could probably have fit more if I put them in between the canning lids. I put 1 cup of water in cooker and pressured them on low for 6 minutes. I let the pressure go down naturally. And then immediately took the eggs out and soaked them in cold water to stop the cooking. Perfect! And a lot easier to crack than the ones you make on the stove. Enjoy!

Hard Boiled Eggs {Electric Pressure Cooker Recipe}

Printable Recipe

*This method for cooking hard boiled eggs in the pressure cooker is so much easier than the stove top. It's quick and efficient, you don't have to worry about water boiling over, and the result is perfect hard-boiled eggs every time!

*Note: In my 6 quart Cuisnart Electric pressure cooker I can cook up to 10 eggs at once

INGREDIENTS:

Eggs

EQUIPMENT:

Electric pressure cooker with metal trivet

1- 5 small canning lids

  

DIRECTIONS:

First place the trivet in the bottom of the pressure cooker. Next add about a cup of water. Place the canning lids on the bottom and arrange the eggs in and around the lids. Heat up the pressure cooker until it reaches low pressure and then cook for 6 minutes. Allow the pressure to go down naturally and then immediately remove the eggs and cool them in ice water to stop the cooking process. When they are cool, the eggs will crack with ease, look beautiful, and taste perfect every time! 

Recipe Source: adapted from Hip Pressure Cooking

For more pressure cooker recipes see my pressure cooker recipe page. Or follow my pressure cooker board on pinterest.

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Mozarella Cheese Sticks

I have been having a hard time finding dinners to make that my kids like. We go through these spurts it seems and we're into one now. I've been going "back to the books" to come up with new ideas that they might like. It's hard. They're a tough crowd to please. Here's a new recipe I came up with today that met with good reviews. I'm encouraged.


I used a variation of my breadstick recipe for this one.

Mozarella Cheese sticks

Printable Recipe

*Makes 12 Cheese Sticks

INGREDIENTS:

1 Tbsp. SAF instant yeast

1 1/2 Cup warm water

1 Tbsp. powdered milk

1 Tbsp. honey or brown sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 Cups + more freshly-ground wheat flour

1/8 Cup Gluten flour

12 Cheese sticks (Mozarella or other - I made my own, but you can use the prepackaged kind too)

DIRECTIONS:

Place hot water (cook for 2 min microwave), salt, milk, and sugar in Bosch mixer. Add 2 C. wheat flour and gluten flour and yeast on top. Set mixer at 2nd speed and mix adding more wheat flour until barely begins to pull from sides. Mix to let gluten work in for about 6 min.

Roll out dough not too thin and cut into 12 squares. Put a mozzarella stick inside and roll up the dough around it. Place on greased cookie sheet and brush tops with melted butter. Allow to rise 15-20 minutes (although change in size is not evident). Bake at 400 degrees about 10-15 minutes.

My kids liked them dipped in plain tomato sauce. I think pizza sauce would be tastier.

Recipe Source: healthyfamilycookin.blogspot.com

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Bunny Buns

These are NOT healthy, but they are cute for Easter and oh, so very, very delicious! I got the recipe from the friend magazine. I adapted it a little for use with my Bosch mixer. Enjoy!

Bunny Buns
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (very warm)
1 cup milk, warmed not quite to boiling
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons grated orange peel
5 1/2 cups flour, sifted
Glaze: 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 cup hot water, 1 teaspoon butter

In Bosch mixer combine ingredients in this order: water, milk, sugar, shortening, salt, eggs, orange juice, orange peel, half of the floor with the yeast on top. Turn on mixer and mix, stirring in flour a half cup at a time until dough barely starts to pull from the sides of the mixer. Mix 6 minutes. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover bowl with a clean towel and put it in a warm place. Let dough rise for 2 hours, or until double in size. Punch dough down and let stand for 10 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a rectangle 1/2 inch thick. Cut dough into strips 1/2 inch wide and 14 inches long. Roll between hands into rounded snake shapes. Cut one strip into pieces 1/2 inch long, and roll into balls.

Place one long piece of dough on a greased cookie sheet. Place one end of the strip over the other to make a loop; bring the end that is underneath up and cross it over the other end. Place a ball of dough on top of the bottom loop.

Cover bunnies and let rise in a warm place for 45–60 minutes, until nearly double in size. Bake at 375ºF (190ºC) for 12–15 minutes.

For the glaze, stir powdered sugar, water, and butter together. Frost bunnies with the glaze while they are still warm.

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