Thursday 28 April 2016

Build an Insect House

Tony Lush, author of the Haynes Garden Buildings Manual, shows how to build an overwintering hibernation place for garden insects

Materials

510mm length 150mm x 25mm sawn timber, untreated (for the main carcass)
5–10 bamboos about 1.5m long
4 x 50mm x 8g screws
300mm length Ex 125mm x 25mm feather-edge or similar (for the roof)
8 x 30mm galvanised clout nails
2 screw eyes
String
UHU glue (or similar)

Tools

Universal hardpoint saw
Jigsaw
Extension lead
RCD (or safety plug)
Belt sander (may be needed)
Drill/driver
Twist drill bits: 8mm, 5mm and 2mm
Flat drill bit: 20mm
Screwdriver bit: Pozi (PZ) No. 2
Hammer
Workbench
Clamps
Combination square
Pencil
Tape measure
Drill carrier (to act as a guide for hole sizes)
Safety glasses…
Dust mask…
Ear defenders…
Gloves

Method

1 Cut a 425mm length of 150mm x 25mm timber to form the back and front of the hibernaculum. Mark the centre of the plank at each end and join the marks to form a centre-line along the length of the timber. This can be done using a combination square set to half the width of the plank (75mm). Using the combination square from both sides will indicate if the mark is central.

2 Mark the apex on both ends of the plank so that the apex corner (the top corner) is 90°. This can be done using the 45° guide on a combination square.

3 Cut the apexes marked at either end of the plank. Mark a line across the middle of the plank equidistant from each apex. Do not cut the plank in half yet.

4 Draw round a suitably sized paint tin (100mm in diameter) to mark a circle on the centre-line of the plank. This circle should touch the base of the triangle forming the apex.

5 Securely clamp the plank to a bench or workbench and drill a 20mm hole inside the circle near its circumference to allow the jigsaw blade to enter.

6 Use a jigsaw to cut out the circle on one end of the plank only. Don’t push the saw too hard – work slowly and concentrate on following the line.

TIP!
Have the jigsaw set at maximum (or near maximum) speed and on full pendulum setting, and make sure the blade is sharp (fit a new one, if necessary).
7 Cut along the centre-line marked in Step 3 to form two end pieces. A chop saw is ideal for this, but a universal hardpoint saw will do the job. Lay the end with the hole in it (the front) on top of the other end piece. If necessary, cut them so that they’re the same length. Use a pencil to mark the 100mm hole on the second end piece.

8 Drill a series of holes around the pencilled circle on the back piece of the hibernaculum. The drill bit needs to be the correct size for the ends of the bamboo canes to fit into its holes, so either drill a few trial holes to find the best size, or try fitting the canes in the drill carrier. They don’t have to be a tight fit. An 8mm bit was used for the hibernaculum in this project. Don’t drill all the way through the back piece.

TIP!
If your drill has one, fit its depth gauge rod to ensure that the bit goes a set depth into the wood. Alternatively, wrap a length of masking tape around the drill bit to give you an idea how far it’s gone in.
9 Drill two 5mm screw holes at the bottom of the front and back pieces. These are 10mm up from the bottom and 30mm in from the edges. Cut the 70mm-long 150mm x 25mm base piece. Ensuring that you align the base accurately onto the front or back piece, clamp it and use 50mm x 8g screws to screw one end piece to the base. Then screw the other end piece to the base. Drilling 2mm pilot holes for the screws in the end of the base will help to stop the wood splitting, as will driving the screws in slowly.
10 Cut short lengths of bamboo so that when they’re pushed into the 8mm holes in the back they’re flush with the outside face of the front end. You may find it easier to cut the bamboo quite long, push it into the 8mm hole, mark where your accurate cut needs to be, then remove the bamboo and cut it to length. Remove the front end piece with the large hole in it.

SAFETY TIP!
If using a chop saw to cut the bamboo, always cut long lengths – don’t try to hold a short length close to the blade! Leftover bits can be used in the garden.
11 Having cut enough lengths of bamboo to fit into all the 8mm holes, push them into the holes – a gentle tap with a hammer will ensure they’re fully in. If they won’t stay in the holes, glue them in place with UHU or a similar adhesive.

12 Replace the end piece so that all the bamboos are collected in the hole.

13 Measure the length from the inside face of the back piece to the outside face of the front and cut bamboos to this length. Rest these in the large hole. Keep cutting and fitting bamboos until the large hole is full. Hammer a few more in to wedge the canes tightly in place.

14 If you see the need, clamp the hibernaculum securely in your workbench and use a belt sander to level off the canes at the front – but the insects won’t care about them being uneven!

15 To form the roof, cut two 150mm lengths of Ex 125mm x 25mm feather-edge and use 30mm galvanised clout nails to fix them to the apex of the end pieces. The feather-edge needs to overlap at the front and sides to keep rain off the insects. As usual, drilling a 2mm pilot hole for the nails will help to stop the feather-edge splitting.

16 Screw two screw eyes through the roof cladding into the top of the end pieces. Tie string through these to hang the hibernaculum.

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2846089552386522046#editor/target=post;postID=3210774548729398348

Saturday 23 April 2016

http://www.vegclub.uk/

Essential Gardening Tools

The Vegetable Gardener Tool List.
A bad workman always blames his tools, right? Well, the person who said that obviously never worked with poor gardening implements. A full complement of decent tools will make your garden easier and more pleasurable to work, whilst speeding up your work rate immensely.
Garden Spades

Let’s look at some of the essential gardening prerequisites:
Spades

Spades are needed for digging and turning over ground. They can cut holes in the ground and are good for shovelling out clods of earth. Flip them over and you can beat those same clods with the flat of the blade.
You will generally want a full-sized flat spade for the majority of digging work. But some spades have a pointed head to cut through tough ground, so you may want one of those for wintertime too. There are also smaller varieties called border spades for finer work, and they are also good to have around.
Spades are usually made of metal or a hybrid of wood and metal. The important thing is not to buy an overly cheap one, because the spade is a tool that will see a lot of conventional and unconventional use. There will be those times when you need to lever up a concrete slab or a heavy shrub and you will reach for your spade, so you need to be able to rely on it.
A trowel is a miniature spade with a rounded head. It is essential for intricate gardening work such as making planting holes, filling plant pots with compost or even levering out plants from pots. Get the best trowel you can, but it doesn’t need to be as reliable as your spade because it won’t be lifting as much weight.
Forks
Other than the spade, there is perhaps no tool more closely associated with agriculture than the fork. You need to be most concerned with the full-sized digging fork and the hand fork, although you may also wish to invest in a ladies fork.
Digging forks are used primarily to break up compacted ground where you cannot make sufficient progress with a spade. A fork’s prongs make it easier to spear into tough ground and rake out clods, stones and weeds.
Garden Fork

They usually have four prongs and are made of either carbon steel, or a metal and wood combination. Forks made of carbon steel supposedly have less chance of rotting and snapping. However, in practice this is not always the case, as some old wooden forks seem to go on forever while the prongs of some newer carbon ones snap after only a couple of uses.
The important thing is to look for something sturdy and not try to skimp on the price. As with spades, it is a false economy to buy a cheap fork, because the tool will get masses of use and you will end up having to replace it regularly.

There are full-sized forks, and a smaller variety known as ladies forks. Full-sized forks are powerful but can be unwieldly, while ladies forks are lighter and more manoeuvrable. They may have been originally designed for ladies but many men also find them quite useful for those times when a smaller tool is needed to get into a tight or difficult spot. Therefore, most gardeners will probably want to own both varieties.
Hand forks are small forks for doing fine work. They are often used for weeding around delicate plants or digging down to remove unwanted root systems without snapping them in the ground. You will also want to get a decent one of these but you can make do with a cheaper one much more easily than with a main fork.
Rakes
There are two main kinds of rakes; leaf rakes and conventional garden rakes. Both are used for grabbing things and pulling them towards you.

Leaf or lawn rakes have a wide head with spindly forks. They are mainly used in autumn for gathering leaves for composting. They are not essential but can be quite useful.
A traditional garden rake is much more needed. They have much tougher forks than lawn rakes and are used for raking ground level, pulling out roots and weeds, or doing any other task you can think of. Get one if you want to tidy up your soil and get it nice and fine.
Hoe
A hoe is a long implement with a metal cutting head that is used for getting rid of lots of weeds at once. You use the blade to grub the surface of the soil and cut away foliage with a rubbing motion, so it is like a deck-scrubber for weeds.
In honesty, you probably shouldn’t control your weeds this way unless they have gotten on top of you, because cutting them can make their return more vigorous. Nevertheless, the hoe has plenty of other uses such and mounding up and shaping soil, and is especially handy for dealing with the potato patch.
Buckets
A bucket or three is absolutely essential for carrying water, soil, weeds or anything else you can fit inside.
You can get metal or plastic ones. Plastic buckets occasionally crack, metal ones don’t, but are heavier.
A good bucket for the garden is a flexi-tub or Trug; it is a plastic bucket with a wide mouth making it easy to throw weeds in from a distance. However, the best buckets for gardening are often random containers requisitioned for a new purpose, so see what you have lying around.
Hose
You will need a decent garden hose. It should be long enough to stretch right across your garden and then some.
Simple hoses tend to be better. If you get a model that is built into a reel or some other new-fangled contraption, then you can bet it will break, or tangle and drive you mad.
Hoses with simple spraying heads are also much more reliable but can be too powerful for certain plants. Hoses with adjustable heads are more versatile but tend to break after a while and get water all over your trousers! So it is probably best to buy an adjustable hose that allows you to buy and fit new heads easily when they become damaged.
One of the advances in hose technology that really is worth looking at is the slinky, or kink-less hose. These curled hoses are very good and will save you lots of time looking for annoying kinks. The only problem with them is that they are quite weighty and can do some damage when dragged across crops.
Make sure any hose you choose has the correct end to fit your tap!
Watering Can
You will need a watering can for watering plants that are too delicate for the hose, or for when you want to use rainwater from your water butts.

Watering cans come in all shapes and sizes but the best all-rounder cans are probably the traditional style metal ones. However, they can be expensive and heavy, so a plastic one will do fine for many people.
Make sure you buy the biggest watering can you can carry. It is surprising how much water it takes to water even a small patch of garden and you don’t want to be running back to the water butt every 2 seconds. Also ensure the rose can be removed if need be.
Wheelbarrow
Wheelbarrows are for moving heavy things like earth, wood or bricks from one place to another. Some people also like to use them as a convenient ‘bucket’ when weeding and then simply roll their weeds straight over to the compost heap or bonfire.
Garden Wheelbarrow

It is essential to get a decent wheelbarrow because it will last a long time and take a lot of punishment. Get a fully metal variety; don’t bother with one of those that has a plastic tub, because one day you will end up having to carry some gigantic object and the tub will crack.
Choose the standard style with one wheel as they are more manoeuvrable the two wheel type. If a full-size one is going to be too difficult for you to balance then there are smaller models out there.
Secateurs
Secateurs are strong scissors for pruning branches and stems. They are invaluable to have around when it comes to cutting back foliage and work much better than a pair of scissors on woody plants.
Models with standard bypass blades are the most useful variety since they are extremely versatile. You way also wish to invest in a blade sharpener.
Mattock
A mattock is a large, heavy, pickaxe-like implement used on African farms and by the military. It may be difficult for some gardeners to easily wield one, but they are certainly handy to have around for heavy duty tasks.
Mattocks are normally employed when mounding up earth or cutting hefty roots. They are also good for boring planting holes and making drills, or for when you just need to hit something really hard.
There are two kinds of mattock. Mattocks with pick heads have one side shaped like a pick and are good for pulling out rocks and roots. Mattocks with cutter heads have an angled cutter on one side for cutting roots instead of the pick. Both types have the standard mattock cutter too so there isn’t much in it, but the pick mattock is probably more useful overall.
If you are going to invest in a mattock then get a decent one, the last thing you want is for that head to come off and hit you in the face.
Gloves
Every gardener should have a decent pair of gloves, or several. They will protect you when handling dangerous tools or plants, or when doing especially dirty tasks.
Gardening Gloves

Gloves come made of all kinds of materials, but choose pairs that are suited to the job you will perform. Thinner gloves are better for delicate work, while thick gloves are more suited to those times when you need greater protection. Some gloves are waterproof and some aren’t, so you should consider that too.
Try gloves on before you buy them if you can, they should fit your hands snugly and correctly. Check to see if the thumb section is not too stiff, or you will get aching tendons after a day holding onto things!

http://www.vegclub.uk/

Wednesday 13 April 2016

Growing Berries in the Kitchen Garden

www.gardeningchannel.com

Being able to go out and pick your own berries is a summertime treat. Berries not only taste good, but also have important nutrients for a healthy diet such as vitamin C and anti-oxidants. Preparing most berries for eating is as simple as rinsing them under running water. Berries are used in many dishes and foods such as desserts, cereals, yogurt, breads, cakes, smoothies, cookies and ice cream, even wine! They can be frozen to enjoy all year long. Growing berries such as blackberries, blueberries and raspberries will make a wonderful addition to your kitchen garden.

How to Grow Raspberries

Raspberries not only taste good they are very beneficial to your health. Raspberries are one of a select number of foods considered to be a super-food; that is, they contain chemicals (phytochemicals) that science has learned help directly fight disease, including cancer. Raspberries are packed with nutritional value including high levels of folate, vitamin C, magnesium, manganese, and calcium. They also have the added health benefit of containing many anti-oxidant properties.
Raspberries are a part of the rose family and considered a bramble shrub due to their prickly branches and stems. They produce fruit every year and so are considered a perennial plant. Raspberries can be found growing in a wide range of zones, from 3 to 10. Raspberries are classified according to their color and fruiting habit. You will find raspberries in a variety of colors including purple, pink, white/yellow, black, and of course, red. Raspberries can also be classified as either

Summerbearing or Everbearing Raspberries

* Summerbearing raspberries produce fruit one time in late summer or early fall. Red raspberries are the most common type of summerbearing raspberry. Red raspberries come in different varieties such as Latham, Prelude and Killarney.
* Everbearing raspberries produce fruit twice a year: once in the springtime and once in the fall. Some common everbearing raspberries are Polana, Summit, and Golden. With good cultural practices and attention, some gardeners have had success getting certain everbearing varieties to produce fruit for many weeks.
It takes two years after planting for the bush to produce fruit. The first year is vegetative growth only. If planted in a good location and well tended, raspberries can produce fruit for many years.

Raspberry Culture

Raspberry plants require full sun (at least 6 hours a day) and grow best in fertile sandy-loam soil with good drainage. Avoid planting raspberries in an area where water tends to pool as this will lead to an increased susceptibility to disease, root rot and poor fruit production. The ideal pH for raspberry plants is between 5.6-6.2. A soil analysis should be performed prior to any amendments.

Planting Raspberries

Raspberries should be planted in early spring after the threat of frost is gone. Red raspberries can be planted to form nice hedgerows as they mature. Each plant should be spaced about 2-3 feet apart and each row 10-12 feet apart. Black and purple raspberries do not become full enough to create a proper hedge and should be planted about 4 feet apart in rows that are 8-10 feet apart. Using the hill system for black and purple berries is a good option and the best use of space. Adequate spacing between plants is needed for weeding, fertilizing and pruning as well as aiding in proper air circulation and sunlight. Plant depth should be about the same as, or slightly deeper than, they were at the nursery.
-Avoid planting raspberries within 300-600 feet of wild raspberries or blackberries; they can transmit viruses to your new plants. Additionally, you should not plant raspberries in the same area that potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants or strawberries have grown in the last 3-4 years as the soil may contain a fungal disease that causes Verticillium Wilt.

Care of Raspberry Plants

Upon initial planting, you can apply a general fertilizer (10-10-10) at the rate of about one pound per 100 feet of row. Work the fertilizer into the soil with a tiller or spade. Another dose of fertilizer should be applied 2-3 weeks later. Organic matter such as manure or compost can also be applied.
Side dressings or additional amendments should be used only after getting your soil results. Mulch can be applied to a depth of about 3-4 inches to cover. Do not put too much mulch down if the area tends to stay wet or retain moisture, as this will encourage fungal diseases. If you are planting one-year-old canes, you should cut the plant to about 6 inches above ground. Raspberries should receive about an inch of rain per week, either from rainfall or hand watering.

Trellises and Pruning of Raspberry Plants

Using a trellis or support system is recommended for red raspberries. Black and purple raspberries grow in clumps and do not need trellising, but can benefit from individual support systems. Trellising provides the following benefits:
* Aids in keeping the fruit healthy by increasing air circulation, keeping the fruit off the ground, and allowing access to full sun. This will increase your crop.
* Makes pruning and weeding easier to manage.
* Makes harvesting easier.
* Helps prevent certain diseases and pests.
Trellises do not have to be overly complex. You can build your own or buy one partially assembled. To learn more about trellising and training raspberries visit this iowa state university website.
Pruning plays a vital part in the health and crop production of raspberries. In order to properly prune your raspberries you will need to understand their two types of canes. The roots and crowns of raspberries are perennial, but their canes live only two years. Raspberry canes come in two varieties: primocanes and floricanes. Primocanes are first-year canes and floricanes are second-year canes that produce fruit.
In the spring raspberries grow new canes from the buds on the crown of the shrub and underground. In the first season, these canes grow vegetatively only (floricanes). The first-year canes will overwinter and then produce fruit in their second year (as primocanes.), and then the cycle begins again.
The second-year canes die soon after producing fruit; this is a recommended time to prune them. Everbearing raspberries will produce fruit on the tips of the new canes and well as a later crop on lower branches.
Summer red raspberries should be pruned two times a year: once in late winter/early spring and again right after they have produced fruit (that you have harvested!).
Spring pruning will include removing all dead, diseased, overgrown or weak canes. Keep only the strong and healthy canes to ensure a good shape and quality fruit production.
The second pruning includes removing the canes that just bore fruit.
Pruning should also be done whenever new shoots become overgrown, diseased or damaged. After you are done pruning, be sure to dispose of the waste properly so disease is not transmitted.

Raspberry Varieties

Raspberries come in a huge variety of cultivars. For an exhaustive list, visit this website.

Raspberry Harvesting

You will know your raspberries are mature and ready to harvest when they are easily separated from the core; if you have to pull hard to separate them they are not ready for picking. Raspberries will keep only for a few days to a week after harvesting. Place them on a paper towel no more than 3 berries deep and put them in the refrigerator as soon as possible.
Do not rinse with water until you are ready to eat, as this will cause them to quickly mold. Raspberries are wonderful in jams and jellies and can be frozen and enjoyed all winter long. And, of course, for all your hard work, there’s nothing better than enjoying a handful of freshly picked raspberries.

http://www.gardeningchannel.com/growing-berries-in-the-kitchen-garden/

Monday 4 April 2016

How To Make Pancetta

http://mistermeatball.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/how-to-make-pancetta.html

I hope that you enjoy looking at pictures and captions. Because I have got an absolute ton of them for you here.

Making pancetta (basically Italian salt-cured bacon) at home is simple. It only takes a little bit of prep time; the rest of the time you are waiting for the meat to cure and then dry. I'm going to run through every one of the steps, if you don't mind.

In case you didn't know, pancetta (just as any bacon) is made from pork belly. You can certainly start out by using just a small slab of belly, but here we are making a big old mess of pancetta. What we have here is a whole belly, with the ribs still attached. It weighed in at about 14 pounds total. (Hey, I have people who have come to expect their allotment of every batch that I make.)

Here is the belly after the ribs have been cut away. You can see by the fold on the left that the skin is on (normally the case when you buy a whole belly), but it needs to be removed.

Once the skin is removed it's time to apply the cure. (Because I am always fiddling with the actual cure, I've decided to reprint the complete recipe and instructions for making pancetta from a reliable source, the book "Charcuterie," by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn; they are at the very end of this post.) This pic shows the cure already spread onto the fat side of one piece of the belly, but the other piece needs it too, as does the meat side of the belly. The reason I've cut the belly in half is because a whole one is too large to roll. If you were not going to roll it, then leaving the belly in one piece would be fine.

After applying the cure all around, place each piece in its own big plastic bag and put into the fridge. They stay in the fridge for at least a week, often longer. And I flip the pieces over once a day. This batch was in the fridge for 11 days.

The next step is to run the belly under cool water and clean off all the cure mixture, then dry it well using paper towels. Once it's clean and dry you put down a good dose of coarse black pepper on the meat side of the belly. Then you roll it nice and tight, the tighter the better actually, to prepare it for tying.

Once it's rolled and tied it's time to hang it in a cool place for at least two weeks.

So that we could also see an example of the slab type of pancetta I didn't roll the other half of the belly. When you do it this way, though, it's good to wrap the belly in cheesecloth before hanging it. The flat, slab-like pancetta hangs in a cool place, just like the rolled, but it's ready quicker.

This one was ready in about 10 days.

Nice, huh? I like this batch a lot. The flavors are both rich and mild at the same time.

Here is the rolled pancetta, ready to be cut down and used. It hung in the garage for about 23 days.

I usually slice rolled pancetta into pieces around an inch thick.

Then I vacuum pack each piece individually. The ones that I don't give away to my demanding family and friends go into the freezer, as the pancetta lasts longer that way.

The only trouble is that I do not get to keep that many of the pieces for myself.

Maybe I should just shut my big mouth the next time a new batch of the stuff is ready.

Pancetta

Recipe

From “Charcuterie”

by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn

For the dry cure

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons pink salt (see Note below)

1/4 cup kosher salt

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar

4 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

2 tablespoons juniper berries, crushed with the bottom of a small saute pan

4 bay leaves, crumbled

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

4 or 5 sprigs fresh thyme

Directions

1. Trim the belly so that its edges are neat and square.

2. Combine the garlic, pink salt, kosher salt, dark brown sugar, juniper berries, bay leaves, nutmeg, thyme, and half the black pepper in a bowl and mix thoroughly so that the pink salt is evenly distributed. Rub the mixture all over the belly to give it a uniform coating over the entire surface.

3. Place the belly in a 2-gallon Ziploc bag or in a covered nonreactive container just large enough to hold it. Refrigerate for 7 days. Without removing the belly from the bag, rub the belly to redistribute the seasonings and flip it over every other day (a process called overhauling).

4. After 7 days, check the belly for firmness. If it feels firm at its thickest point, it's cured. If it still feels squishy, refrigerate it on the cure for 1 to 2 more days.

5. Remove the belly from the bag or container, rinse it thoroughly under cold water, and pat it dry. Sprinkle the meat side with the remaining black pepper. Starting from a long side, roll up the pork belly tightly, as you would a thick towel, and tie it very tightly with butcher's string at 1- to 2-inch intervals. It's important that there are no air pockets inside the roll. In other words, it can't be too tightly rolled. Alternately, the pancetta can be left flat, wrapped in cheesecloth, and hung to dry for 5 to 7 days.

6. Using the string to suspend it, hang the rolled pancetta in a cool, humid place to dry for 2 weeks. The ideal conditions are 50°F to 60°F (8°C to 15°C) with 60 percent humidity, but a cool, humid basement works fine, as will most any place that's out of the sun. Humidity is important: If your pancetta begins to get hard, it's drying out and should be wrapped and refrigerated. The pancetta should be firm but pliable, not hard. Because pancetta isn't meant to be eaten raw, the drying isn't as critical a stage as it is for items such as prosciutto or dry-cured sausages. But drying pancetta enhances its texture, intensifies its flavor, and helps it to last longer.

7. After drying, the pancetta can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for 3 weeks or more, or frozen for up to 4 months. Freezing makes it easier to slice thin.

Note: Pink salt, a curing salt with nitrite, is called by different names and sold under various brand names, such as tinted cure mix or T.C.M., DQ Curing Salt, and Insta Cure #1. The nitrite in curing salts does a few special things to meat: It changes the flavor, preserves the meat's red color, prevents fats from developing rancid flavors, and prevents many bacteria from growing.