Cooking with Herbs

Monday nights are school nights for me this summer. I am learning about useful herbs from Master Ken. Tonight Master Ken wanted to do a live demo of decoction, also known as making soup, during the class. He brought in some celery, sweet corn, carrots, herbs and a few loquats from Alemany Farm, where he volunteers on Monday afternoons.

Before we started cooking, we got to take a walk through the campus garden to pick more veggies and herbs. I immediately grabbed my basket and ran out there. I love the campus garden! We will never go hungry there. We picked big fat zucchinis, green beans, new potatoes, a couple heads of broccoli, basil, rosemary, rose pedals, garlic, onion, strawberries, etc. My basket was getting really heavy. I left my camera on my desk otherwise I would have taken pictures.


While the soup was cooking, Master Ken started making a special blend of pesto. In addition to basil and olive oil, he also added some blueberry juice and loquats. The pesto was naturally neon green and sweet. It wasn't bad at all. Later on he added some salt and perhaps a few other herbs to it. I had some tortilla chips with the sweet pesto.

The soup turned out quite well, too. How could it not? Everything was so fresh. The soup tasted great and healthy. Food tastes so much better when you get to pick it from your garden where you have put in the time and sweat.

Composting

This round "Worms-can" above is my favorite compost bin. I got it in early 2010 from Berkeley Freecycle. It's more sturdy than the rectangular Worm Factory, and the round design has less parts with potentials to break off.

The Worm Factory below is the first worm compost system I got from Craigslist's free section. I didn't notice the posting until a week later. I didn't think it was available anymore since it was left on the sidewalk as indicated in the ad. I drove by the address anyway since it's close by. I noticed the trays sitting inside of a locked gate. I emailed the poster, and it turned out it was still available! I was so excited to get the Worm Factory and started a mutually beneficial relationship with the worms. Both Worms-Can and Worm Factory collect compost tea with their bottom trays.


Several people in my "Beneficial Beast in the Garden" offered me buckets of red wigglers to start worm composting. I remember watching a TV show years ago about worm composting, and I never thought I would be doing it. I never thought I would be digging in the farm looking for worms and catching them with my hands either.

There was something the worms really liked. I think it was an apple.

I like to check on my worms periodically. Normally you don't see them when you open the worm compost bin because they prefer darkness. They are either underneath the surface or they quickly dig underneath to hide as soon as you open the lid. As soon as I turn the compost with a trowel, I find clusters of red wigglers all intertwined together. It makes me happy to see big fat worms!

I feed the worms vegetable and fruit scraps, old and wilted vegetables from the veggie patches, moldy fruit from the trees, egg shells, tea bags, used coffee grinds, and some weeds. I keep the worm bins under a shady tree so the worms won't die from being overheated.

In December 2009, I ordered a compost tumbler over the internet. I filled it with both dry and wet (brown and green) yard clippings. It's July now, and it has not fully turned into compost. The compost tumbler cost about $100. If you are thinking about composting, I highly recommend the worm method. You can easily make your own worm compost bin or look for giveaways on Craigslist. Some counties even offer worm compost bins to their residents free of charge as I found out that Alameda County was giving away Worm Factories.

Saturday Morning on the Farm

I always try to start my day earlier than usual on weekends because they are mine to do whatever I want, and I want to get farm work done in the early morning before it gets hot.

As I was getting ready to clear out the dry dead snow peas, I noticed how Dusty was running around and up and down in the sun room. He stopped at the door and tried to see what I was doing. I opened the screen door to see if he was going to step out. He was curious and stuck his head out for a second then went back in.


I closed the screen door and to my surprise...well, this is what he did:

New Accessories

Master Ken talked about tools the other day in the class. He showed us all the gadgets he carries on him at all times. I was particularly interested in the little folding saw he had. The longer I have been learning from Master Ken, the more I feel the need to carry my shears with me at all times. Okay, perhaps not when I am sitting in the cubicle. Last night when I walked down the street, I noticed that one of my neighbors has passion fruit vines in their front yard! I only noticed them now because I learned from Master Ken's class what passion fruit vines look like. I ran home to get my shears so I could get some cuttings.

Master Ken highly recommended Hida Tool & Hardware in Berkeley for high quality garden tools and urban farmer accessories like his mini folding saw. I have seen the shop for years as I drive up and down San Pablo Avenue but never checked it out. I stopped by the shop today. As I was paying for my new accessories, I casually mentioned that Master Ken at Merritt College recommended the shop. I got my 10% Merritt College discount!


As soon as you step in the small shop, you will see hand saws of various sizes on the left wall. As I was trying to figure out which one Master Ken carries around with him, a friendly gray kitty greeted me. I had to pet him a bit. At first I picked a bigger saw. Later on I spotted more smaller folding saws on the right side of the entrance. I got one with a 5-inch blade. It comes with a clear carrying case that can be worn on a belt. It's a Silky Pocket Boy with medium teeth.

I initially got a pruner holder but had to return it because none of my shears would fit in there. Perhaps I will have to make my own tool belt at some point. This Pocket Boy saw will come in handy when I go mushroom hunting, too.

I also got a serrated knife made for removing weeds from small cracks or corners. This one was recommended by the shop keeper. I tried it out, and it seems to work better on certain weeds. Perhaps I just need to figure out the best way to hold the blade. You know how stubborn weeds can be.

Making Gyoza for Lunch

When you grow your own food, you tend to cook your own food, too. I spend a lot of time on the farm, so it's only natural that I cook frequently. I usually pack my lunch for the day job, and this morning I woke up thinking about gyoza (a.k.a potsticker). "Thinking" is an understatement. I had an urge of having gyoza for lunch and actually got up at 7 A.M. on an office day.

I bought a pack of ground beef for making curry beef puff pastries a couple nights ago (that was another craving). I knew that I would have leftover ground beef after the puff pastries, so I got a pack of gyoza wrappers as well. I chopped up a bunch of farm fresh scallions and one store bought king oysters mushroom. They were mixed in with the ground beef along with spices. After all the ingredients were mixed well, I started folding the gyoza together. I figured 15 gyoza would be enough for lunch. For those of you who know me, if you want to learn how to fold gyoza, ask me to do a demo for you.

I heated up a few table spoons of oil in a non-stick pan (a well seasoned cast iron pan works, too) and put all the gyoza in there as shown in the picture above.


Let them sizzle for a minute or so then pour some water in there and cover the pan. Reduce the heat to low and let the water steam the gyoza. This way you don't need to turn the gyoza to cook them through. When they are fully cooked, you will see the change in color as they become semi-transparent. I used a Pyrex lid, so I could see them while they cooked.

When they are cooked through, lift the lid and let the water fully evaporate. The oil you put in the pan earlier will start to brown the bottom of gyoza and give them a nice golden brown color. I like my gyoza crispy.

When I was about to have my 15 pieces of gyoza for lunch, all 3 people I was having lunch with asked me the same question, "Are you going to eat all that?" Well, I was going to try. As a result, I offered each of them a piece to shut them up.