Pawling Nature Reserve--Earth Day--Any Day

Winter's snow is finally melting; spring arrives in two days; and the woods will soon become accessible again. Planning an Earth Day outing? Looking for local destination to commune with nature? The Pawling Nature Reserve, a 1000 acre preserve located on border of Pawling and Dover, has six marked trails to explore, and can be easily accessed from three points:

Quaker Lake Road in Pawling

  Route 22 in Pawling, across from Native Landscaping, at the Appalachian Trail crossing

Furlong Road in Dover

When traveling Route 22 look for the following signs to locate the Dover entrance.

Turn onto Furlong Road. Travel straight for 500 feet.

Across from the Drop'n Lock.

A color coded map with intersecting trails, including the Appalachian, is available on the Pawling Nature Reserve website.  Look for the colored markers on trees at eye height to follow the trails shown on the map.  Because it is a preserve, pets are not allowed.

No matter where you enter the reserve, 

enjoy vistas,

hemlock forests,

streams,

1000 acres of preserved nature.

Almond Milk, Pure and Simple

Ingredients: water,
almonds, honey,
salt and vanilla

Almonds appears on most lists of foods we're encouraged to eat because of their healthy fat, vitamins, minerals, protein and fiber. They're reported to help lower cholesterol, prevent cancer and reduce the risk of heart disease. Due to these many benefits, I added almond milk to my diet a few years ago. Recently, I decided to take the next step. Rather than buying boxed almond milk, I avoid plastic lined packaging and pass up: tricalcium phosphate, cane juice, "natural flavors", gellan gum, dipotassium phosphate, xanthan gum, d-alpha-tocopherol, and even in organic brands, carrageenan, by making it at home. Carrageenan, the ingredient added to commercially produced almond milk to keep it from separating, has been linked to digestive diseases in laboratory animals, so it makes sense to keep it out of my cereal bowl.  

As an added bonus, I start with one cup of almonds and end up with three cups of milk and one cup of almond meal for baking.

  Place almonds in a pint ball jar; fill jar with water and salt;
and soak overnight (for 8-12 hours).
 Rinse and drain the almonds.

Ingredients:

1 pint jar

1 cup raw almonds 

½ teaspoon of salt

3 ½ cups water

½ teaspoon vanilla extract 

1 teaspoon maple syrup or honey 

   Blend almonds with 3 ½ cups water for one minute on high.

       Rinse the jar.
Pour milk through a cloth lined sieve that drains into a funnel over the jar.
 Use a tightly woven cloth to trap the small nut particles.  

 Gently squeeze the cloth to release the milk.
Scrape nut meal from cloth.
Repeat until all the milk has been strained. 

Rinse out the blender to remove the nut pieces.
Pour the milk back into the blender. Add the vanilla and sweetener;
blend on low for a few seconds to combine.

Refrigerate, freeze, or dehydrate the nut meal to add to future baked goods.
You can replace a portion of flour or grain with nut meal in many recipes.

 Pour the milk back into the jar to store in the fridge for up 5 days.
(Shake jar before using.)

Enjoy the nutritious milk in its reusable container with no unnecessary additives.

      

Make Your Own Yogurt

Homemade yogurt is smooth, creamy, inexpensive, delicious, and contains only two ingredients (a half gallon of milk and 1/4 cup of plain yogurt with live cultures).

Heat a half gallon of milk...

to 180 degrees (stir to keep from sticking to pot).

Cool to 115 degrees. Ice water speeds up this process.

Take one cup of the warm milk.

Mix it with 1/4 cup of yogurt (store bought or your own).

Add the yogurt/milk mix to the warmed milk and pour into ceramic bowl.

Cover with cloth and place it in a dehydrator with the shelves removed for 7 hours at 110 degrees.
(If you do not have a dehydrator or yogurt maker, other options are: a heating pad, crock pot, or a cooler with jugs of warm water.)

If you prefer a thicker, Greek style, yogurt, drain for a few hours in a colander covered with cheese cloth, positioned over a large pot in the refrigerator.  Cover with a pot lid.

When the consistency is to your liking, fill glass jars and refrigerate.
The yogurt will thicken a bit after it is spooned into jars and refrigerated.  

I flavor the yogurt with low sugar jam. 
Other optional include maple syrup, granola, &/or fresh fruit.

The whey, the drained liquid from the Greek style yogurt, is a terrific buttermilk substitute to use in breads, pancakes, and crust. It can also be used as acidic fertilizer for plants.

Save 1/4 cup of the yogurt for your next batch, if you can resist eating it all.

Planting Lavender

Fall is the perfect time to plant lavender, a carefree perennial that will reward you with twenty years of fragrant, savory, beauty, when planted following basic guidelines. I follow the advice of Ellen, the farmer at Northwinds Lavender Farm in Pawling, NY, to ensure healthy plants:

Buy your lavender plants from a reputable grower who propagates their own stock in your zone. This ensures the plants have been acclimated to wintering over in your area and are also true lavender varieties from parent stock.

Ask for varieties that are hardy in your zone.

Make sure the planting bed is free draining. (Add sand if the soil does not drain easily.)

Choose a bed location that receives full sun for a minimum of 6 hours daily.

Check soil pH and amend bed prior to planting if possible; 
pH of 7.0 or greater is required.

Amend soil with lime if the pH is less than 7.0. 

Dig a hole the height of the plant root system and three times its width. 
Remove the plant from the container and place it in the hole so that the new soil level is even with the plant's soil level.

Avoid using bark mulches; these are too acidic and retain moisture close to the plant crown. White stone reflects the sunlight into the center of the plant, keeping it healthy. 

Water until established.

Then, for years to come, enjoy this amazing plant that requires very little attention, yet offers soothing fragrance and culinary flavor, while adding color and texture to the landscape. 

Low Sugar Jams -- Fruity Rather than Sugary

     If you prefer jam with fruit as the main ingredient, and a minimal amount of sugar, Pomona's pectin recipes are a great option. Jam recipes using this pectin require up to 80% less sugar than standard pectin recipes. Calcium water activates the citrus based pectin, so as little as 3/4 cups of sugar will sweeten 4 cups of fruit. The result is intensely fruit flavored, healthier jam. (Small amounts of honey, agave, maple syrup, frozen juice concentrate, or Stevia can also be used as sweeteners.)
   

Harvesting Garlic (Cure, Store, & More)

  

Garlic is the ultimate "sustainable crop". Once you begin growing your own, simply save the best bulbs from your harvest for the next season's crop. If you also preserve your garlic, you can have garlic all year long: scapes, fresh garlic, cured garlic, and finally, dehydrated garlic, without ever having to purchase garlic again--unless you want to try new varieties.

If your garlic was planted in New York in the fall, the lower leaves are likely brown and dying back, indicating it's time to harvest.

Gently pull the bulbs from the ground.

I “cure” three-fourths of our bulbs for a month, spread in a single layer 
on screens indoors out of direct sunlight until the stalks are dry.

Once cured, I set aside enough of the largest and healthiest bulbs to plant in the garden in the fall, and store the rest in the basement to be used in the kitchen over the next six months or so. Then I dehydrate the final bulbs to cook with during the limbo months after the stored garlic is no longer fresh and before next season’s harvest.

How-to Dehydrate Garlic:

                                                          

1.  Divide cloves by cutting a small incision in the outer layer in the indentations between the clove bulges, and peel back.  

                                        

2.  The outer skin peels off fresh garlic with little effort once the ends of the clove are removed.

                                             

        3.  Slice or dice cloves into pieces that are between 1/8” and 1/4” thick.

                                            

4.  Spread pieces on a dehydrating tray.

                          

5.  Dehydrate outdoors on a sunny day so the intense garlic odors remains outdoors.

6.  Dehydrate at 135 degrees for 12-16 hours until the pieces are no longer squishy. 
Store in mason jars.

Garlic has been used for thousands of years to sustain good health; so ensure a plentiful supply throughout the year.