restoring the roost

North Carolina Country Living and Farmhouse Style

North Carolina Country Living and Farmhouse Style
since 2010

Homesteading

Impressive Garlic Harvest

· gardening, Homesteading

HOLY GARLIC BULBS! This was one awesome harvest of some HUGE heads of garlic (at least for us).
In addition to planting our usual little plot of garlic in one of our raised beds, we also planted a sizable patch out at our new property (beside our new neighbor’s garden). All of the seed we got from our local feed store which sells garden supplies as well. We were pleasantly surprised when we pulled up some enormous heads of soft neck garlic with a smaller amount of the hard neck variety.
hard neck garlic
I’ve been using it as “green garlic” ever since we harvested but currently we are letting it cure until it is thoroughly dried out and will not mold or rot. To cure, we let the garlic sit on tarps for a while until we had the time to hang it up on our screened in porch to dry for at least a few weeks.
garlic curing
We plan to make garlic braids to give away and to sell and I hope to preserve a good amount of this delicious stuff by pickling and making a garlic powder and spice mix. In the past we have supplied our garlic needs for almost a full year by using what we have grown in our garden.
Nothing like having homegrown garlic hanging on your screened porch!
Additionally, we are going to try our hand at making “black garlic”–so stay tuned for an upcoming post on this antioxidant-rich gourmet delicacy.
The size of the cloves in the large bulbs are nice and big!
We will definitely be planning more garlic in the fall–it might just be our best bet for an easy cash crop 🙂

Small Batch Pickled Beets

· gardening, Homesteading, recipes

This is the first year we have ever been able to grow beets that actually developed a root!

I had to thin them out quite a bit along the way, so although I didn’t end up with a ton, I still had enough to make one jar of pickled beets and have two or three batches left for regular cooking.

I just love pickled beets. It’s one of my favorite types of pickled vegetables for sure and beets are so healthy for you I like to enjoy them any way possible.

I used a recipe from the TV show A Chef’s Life, found on their website here. It was featured on the “beet” episode but instead of processing my beet jars I just stuck them inside the refrigerator instead since it was such a small batch and I knew I would eat them soon anyway.

One of the interesting things I remember them talking about was how important it was for flavor purposes to leave the beet greens on the roots when cooking them before canning the beets.

Beets cooking in the water with greens still on

Here is what you will need, taken directly from the website:

3 pounds beets
3 cups cider vinegar
2 cups water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3 cloves
3 bay leaves
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon chili flakes
3 star anise

Place washed, skin-on beets in the bottom of 6 quart or larger pot. Cover the beets with water by 2 inches, and bring them up to a boil. Boil, covered for 20 minutes. Check to see if they are done by sliding a knife into the center. The beet should give just a little resistance. If the they are not done, continue cooking just until they are. Drain off the water and set the beets aside to cool.Once they are cool enough to handle, peel and slice the beets into 1/2 inch rounds. Position the rounds in wide-mouth canning jars. If you have rounds that are too wide to fit, cut them into half-moons, or quarters, or whatever you have to do to get them in there.


Combine the remaining ingredients in a non-reactive, 3 quart saucepan and bring it up to a boil. Carefully pour the brine over the beets, making sure the beets are completely submerged in the liquid. At this point you could refrigerate the beets for up to 3 months without processing in a hot water bath. If you’d like to store them at room temperature and keep them longer, follow the directions on (pg. 00) and process the jars for 5 minutes. 
the brine for the beets


What is your favorite way to cook and eat beets? 


French Breakfast Radishes

· gardening, Homesteading

My love for radishes has grown in recent years. I love the spicy bite they have and I think they are such a great compliment not only to salads but to all sorts of dishes. Roasting them is delicious too.

I’ve always wanted to try French Breakfast radishes because I love eating them with butter on top of a good, crusty bread like a French loaf or a sourdough. This year we planted them in our raised beds and although they aren’t very big, so far we have several that actually grew!  Whoohoo!

I’ve been enjoying them in salads, with dips, and of course, with butter on top of crusty bread 🙂

Here is one of my favorite salad recipes with radishes:

Bibb and Radish Salad with Buttermilk Dressing

4 oz. country/crusty bread, cut into 3/4″ pieces
1 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper
garlic seasoning (optional)
1/2 cup buttermilk
3 tbsp. mayonnaise 
2 tbsp. chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1 head Bibb lettuce, torn
4-6 radishes, sliced
1 shallot, sliced

Heat oven to 400 degrees. On baking sheet, toss bread with olive oil, 1/4 tsp salt and pepper and garlic seasoning. Bake for about 10-15 minutes to form croutons. In large bowl, whisk together buttermilk, mayo, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper. Add lettuce, radishes, shallot, croutons and toss to coat.

I’m going to plant them in the fall again too hopefully another good crop!

Spring at the Roost

· chickens, Homesteading, new house

Ahhhh, springtime.  We just returned from spending a couple of weeks in Kentucky with family and since I hadn’t posted in a while I thought I would share with you a few glimpses of our spring around here.  I wish I had remembered to capture photos of when the redbuds are all in bloom because it is always so beautiful!

Our chickens have been enjoying the warm North Carolina spring weather…..and (hopefully) we will have some baby chicks soon as we have a broody sitting on eggs as we speak 🙂

The screened porch is a must-have here in the country and we are planning for an extra large one in our new house!

I love hellebores–they survive in shade, are hardy, and multiply every year!  Also such a classic southern addition to any garden. 

Of course you will not find our house without flats of seedlings and starts either under a grow light or hardening off on the porch like these tomato plants are. They will go into the ground in the next week weather permitting.

Because we have been so busy planning for the new house this spring, for a while now I’ve neglected  our current rental in terms of any decor projects or updating. As you can see below, our house plans came and it is exciting to see the all of the details laid out! Now on to the land survey, building permits, and plan modifications with our builder.

I hope you are having a pretty spring and I can’t wait to update you as we continue the new house design and building process!

Homestead Design: Landscape Details

· gardening, Homesteading, new house

Lets talk homestead landscaping!

A lot of times landscaping around a house is an afterthought but in planning our homestead I think it is important that we design the landscaping simultaneously with the house itself, so that they can evolve together and so that we can maximize the use of the plants–whether they be ornamental, edible, medicinal, or as natural pest control.

FYI– if you haven’t heard, we are building a house on 10 acres in the country! You can read about our decision here and look at my first draft of a homestead design here.

In addition to designing the kitchen garden, I’m hoping that the landscaping around the house and driveway can be just as functional and beautiful. I plan on putting in some of my favorite flowering plants and bushes like hydrangeas, peonies and lilacs, a couple of small flowering fruit trees such as cherry and non-fruiting ones such as camellias, a small herb garden on the rear elevation of the house and shade-loving perennials on the north elevation of the house.

The orchard will be located to the southeast of the house where we plan to have varieties of apple, peach, pear, fig, plum and nectarine trees. Large and medium sized trees such as pecan, walnut, American hazelnut, magnolia and oaks will provide nice shade in the summertime and as a bonus supply us with nuts or pretty foliage.

I have zero experience with landscape design so I very much value your suggestions and advice! What do you think?