Seedlings 03-31-2009

Posted on by AuSable

I’m getting kind of tired taking the seedlings outside for some sun and air. So last night I set up some grow lights hooked to a timer down in the basement for two of the seedling flats.

Upon closer inspection of the flats it seems that some of the flower seedlings (F4) are starting to wilt for some reason. My only guess is that the seedlings need to be fertilized, since they are growing in soil-less mix. So I gave all the seedlings some water with fertilizer. I also ended up added the fan in the afternoon today, just to get some air moving around the plants.

Steaming French Fries

Posted on by AuSable

A while back I was watching America’s Test Kitchen, and one of the recipes they made on the episode was for extra fluffy mashed potatoes. What I thought was interesting about the recipe was that instead of boiling the potatoes like you normally would. They ended up steaming the potatoes using a metal colander in a large pot.

It seemed like a very interesting cooking technique for potatoes. So it got me to thinking how I could apply steamed potatoes to a different dish. Why not french fries? I never really cared for the normal double fry technique, and have had moderate success with parboiling the fries before frying. So why not give steaming the potatoes a try. Well easier said then done. Continue reading →

Hop buds are emerging

Posted on by AuSable

I took a quick stroll by the hop rhizomes today after bringing in all the seedling flats from having some time in the sun. And we have got some hop bud activity, a lot on the Centennial and only one bud on the Goldings.

Yeah it’s still very early in the season. But since this is the second year for the rhizomes. I might actually have some hop flower activity this year. So that means fresh hops in my homebrew. Ummmmm………Beeeeer

Seedlings 03-24-2009

Posted on by AuSable

I started most of the seeds on the March 18th, and this is what has been coming up so far. The cucumbers and peas seem to be doing the best. While the flowers don’t seem to be doing much at this point.