Archives for October 2010 | This Organic Process

The Frost-Man Cometh [Gardening]

October 31, 2010 | Comments Off | by Ben Czajkowski | Gardening

Ellie looks on at the invading plants

It is a COLD one out there tonight, folks. It’s set to get down to 34. When I went out to cover my tomatoes, the little babies felt like ice cubes. It made my heart drop, a little. I’ve become emotionally attached to my plants, this year. I hate to see them suffer and/or die.

Luckily, my friend Kira suggested bringing them indoors. So I dragged the container into the stairwell. This is going to precipitate me trying to find a place to nurse them through the winter, somewhere in the house.

Ellie Smells The Squirrels

This is not going to make Heather, my wife, very pleased. Even though she loves to reap the benefits of the fruits of my labor.

Puerto Rican Pork: Pernil

October 30, 2010 | 2 Comments | by Matt Hufford | Cooking

A Puerto Rican friend of mine had shared a recipe for pernil with me a while ago (he found it on reddit). Being a meat lover, I have been wanting to make it for a long time. This weekend, I finally bit the bullet and decided to make it. A list of ingredients and directions follows the post, so don’t worry about taking notes.

The original recipe called for a 5 pound pork shoulder. My local grocer only had 10 pound pork shoulders. Not being afraid of the unknown, I decided to just go for the larger cut of meat and to cook it all.

Why doesn't it have a kosher symbol on the label?

Continue reading “Puerto Rican Pork: Pernil” »

Belgian-American IPA

October 30, 2010 | Comments Off | by Matt Hufford | Homebrew

While perusing through Radical Brewing, I found a recipe for a Belgian-American IPA. Since I love Flying Dog’s Raging Bitch, I figured I’d give it a go. I modified the recipe a bit because part of it was a bit ambiguous and because I like Centennial hops. Here is what I used as a recipe:

9.75 lbs pilsner malt
1.5 lbs CaraMunich malt

2 oz of Liberty 60min
2 oz Saaz 30min
1 oz Centennial 5min

Pitched a vial of White Labs’ Belgian Ale Yeast (WLP550).

Thar She Blows! [Homebrewing]

October 29, 2010 | Comments Off | by Ben Czajkowski | Homebrew

Blow-off Tube

Over the weekend, @mhufford brewed a delightfully dark batch of alcoholic goodness. We normally let the fermentors sit, undisturbed, in my basement until we are ready to bottle.

Or in his case: keg.

Well, after I finished my batch on Sunday, the pilsner lager, to our surprise, @mhufford’s fermentor had some of its contents on its rim. How bizarre!

The lid was tight as the skin of a snare drum. The airlock was full of wort, as well. We were momentarily speechless. We took the fermentor to the yard where @mhufford removed the airlock, causing immediate blow-back on his arm. From there, we set up a blow-off tube into the vinator dish.

The batch should be fine, if not awesome. These are definitely happy yeast cells!

The Rise of the Cherry Tomatoes, Part 2 [Gardening]

October 28, 2010 | Comments Off | by Ben Czajkowski | Gardening

Cherry Tomato Buds

The growing season over?! Explain that to my cherry tomato plants.

The sibling of the cherry tomato in the previous post, which was planted many months ago, has produced a decent crop of fruits, over the summer.

Well, I counted tonight out of boredom, and it has 40ish blooms/buds on it that could potentially produce a huge crop. Of course, it’s hard to know what could become of them since there are already a handful of fruits drawing the energy of the plant. Regardless, though, this will be a good exercise in Fall-to-Winter growing.

In the end, this really boils down to me wanting to see how long I can keep these plants alive past their normal growing cycle. My aim is for the end of December, when Winter really begins to take its toll. However, since they’re living next to the Aerogarden for the time being and its consistently warm in the house (67-73F), I am hoping to trick them. Since plants are stupid and all…

I should plant some lettuce as a winter crop and start making salads!

The Rise of the Cherry Tomatoes, Part 1 [Gardening]

October 27, 2010 | 1 Comments | by Ben Czajkowski | Gardening

Rise of the cherry tomato

Last night, I took a shot of transplanted cherry tomato plants that were looking pretty weak.

Sadly, one’s stem snapped. I cut off the two decent shoots, slathered on some root stuff, and stuck them back in the same pot. With any luck, I’ll end up with three instead of two.

The other is looking quite healthy (above). It’s perked up considerably, parked, warmly, in front of the AeroGarden’s bulbs. I even had to rotate it a little to keep it from going top far near the light.

I’m looking forward to a winter of little, red deliciousness.

Adjusting to the Inclement Weather of the Fall [Gardening]

October 25, 2010 | 1 Comments | by Ben Czajkowski | Gardening

On my way home from work today, NPR informed me that tomorrow was going to bring strong storms and crazy winds (upwards of 50MPH). I’ve already lost three pots this season, and I’m done playing games.

Peppers, Mint, and Others

This gave me the incentive to move the plants inside. After some convincing, the wife helped me move some furniture. I even managed to commandeer some space on the table in the kitchen for some of the smaller, potted plants.

Inside now are the catnip (above), the three cherry tomato plants (above), the spearmint, oregano, the three peppers (cherry bombs, ring of fire, early jalapenos), and the baby apple trees.

I still have to decide what to do with my Tokyo White Onion plants, which are no longer plants; they’re tentacle monsters.

Homebew Sunday: Random Pilsner Recipe [Homebrewing]

October 24, 2010 | Comments Off | by Ben Czajkowski | Homebrew

Random Chocolate Pilsner

Batch number 12 of 2010. I have a bunch of grain and most of a pound of hops in the freezer. Not sure how much longer @mhufford and I will be brewing this season. So I decided to throw this one together:

10.0lbs pilsner
1.0lbs wheat malt
.5.0lbs chocolate malt

1.5oz centennial 60min
.5oz challenger 30min
.5oz northern brewer 30min

White Labs South German Lager

Then I used a tube of White Labs South German Lager yeast for giggles.

The End of the Gardening Season, 2010

October 21, 2010 | Comments Off | by Ben Czajkowski | Gardening

Cherry Tomato

In western Ohio, the gardening season is quickly drawing to a close, and it has been a rather… fruitful year, in terms of growing successes.

And failures.

Over the next several days and weeks, I will begin chronicling my trials and errors in my gardening process, among other activities. Which may or may not include: homebrewing, literature, cooking, and coding.

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