"Old World" Culinary Skills

So yesterday I spent a wonderful afternoon with my Mom and two fabulous girlfriends. We spent the afternoon making liverpate.

I remember as a child that my Mom often made it herself rather than buy it from the store. As always it was important for her to be thrifty and make use of everything. 

My Mom, we all call her Oma, is 87 and was born in what was once Prussia. She is an incredible resource of "Old World" culinary information. Oma learned everything she knows from her mother, my prussian grandmother. I only met my grandmother a few times in my life but she was an amazing and talented cook. My grandmother was trained in the kitchen of the last Kaiser of Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm. My mother and her sisters all learned their culinary skills from her. 

Being raised on a self-sustainable farm has given  my mother incredible skills and resources to draw from. She also has a photographic memory for how things were done back in the days. It has become really important  to have her tell me and instruct me in those ways.

I want to know these things so I can better know myself and what I am capable of. I am a first generation Canadian and for a long time my mother didn't talk so much about the "old" days. There are a lot, too many actually, painful memories as well.  The depression, the war took a lot out of everyone. My mother as well as so many others lost their chance at youth during those times. They all "grew up" much too quickly. 

Its true what they say, time heals all wounds. I am sure they are never truly healed but time and age seems to take the stinging edge and hurt out of the experiences and they become memories that can be spoken of and shared. I am glad that my mother has lived long enough to   share these memories with me and others. Knowing what she knows is filling in the empty spaces in my soul. I am beginning to have a deep connection and feeling for the place of my ancestors. It is giving me an understanding of myself I wasn't able to connect to before. 

A most wonderful galfriend of mine has been calling me the "keeper of the old ways". I like it ! I have always had an affinity for doing things by hand. Whether it is tending the plants or preparing food I have a definite fondness for "handling" and "touching" what I am doing. I remember when I physically connect. We are physical beings. Touching and feeling must be two of the most amazing senses. We miss a lot when we just look or listen. To truly experience you need to touch and feel. It goes deep inside. When we touch something we leave our mark on it. 

So yesterday I took my Mom to my friend's place and along with another friend "Oma" taught us how to make liver pate. We spent a happy afternoon learning a "new/old" culinary skill . More than that my mother shared more of herself and her stories. As her daughter it is a wonderful feeling to observe how my Mom engages and draws them in. My Mom has never believed that she has lived up to her potential. I am saying here and now that she has done it and more. She inspires the potential in me every day. 

My interest and passion for everything that grows, everything that can be nurtured, everything that can be touched and handled and cooked, baked, pickled , preserved, made into something and then shared with everyone is what my mother has passed into me. I can think of no better gift to be given. 

Best of all I have a daughter who is showing many of the same family traits. 

Hopefully the next blog will be about how to actually make the pate. Today I just wanted to thank my Mom for sharing the knowledge so I can keep writing this blog.  :-D

Love to you all. Barbara

the photo is of the house my mother was born in. It was already 300 years old when she was born. Unfortunately it is no longer there. She is the five year old girl in the photo with my grandparents, about 1928.

Barbara and my Mom, "Oma". Grandmother in german.

 

Potato Primer

Potatoes produce more nutrition per acre than almost any other staple crop. Potatoes are native to South America and introduced into Europe at the time of the Inca conquests. Potatoes contributed greatly to the ability of families to feed themselves and thrive. Populations increased rapidly due to the introduction of potatoes.

Most of us cannot imagine potatoes not being a part of our dietary consumption. They are incredibly versatile and can be incorporated into a myriad of recipes. I personally love new, freshly dug potatoes and I think most would agree with me.

As a child growing up new potatoes were boiled, sauteed in some butter with fresh chopped parsley and served with cottage cheese. Its still one of my favorites. Another childhood favorite was perfect mashed potatoes, fresh creamed spinach and a fried egg on top. I could go on and on but I must stop or I will be getting up from this chair off to the kitchen to do something about it.

GROWING/ PLANTING POTATOES 

Potatoes are heavy feeders so soil preparation is important. They will consume up to 170 pounds of nitrogen per acre and over 1/3 of the available phosphorus, potassium and sulfur. 

They prefer a sandy loam with a pH between 5.5 and 6.0. They can do well even in a heavy clay soil as long as the soil has thoroughly warmed up before planting. 

Crop rotation is important and ideally potatoes should follow a legume crop. Where you planted peas, beans etc. the year before would be a good spot for spuds the following season. In the fall after the legumes are done dig the bed, apply a good amount of finished compost and cover crop with fall rye. The rye will take up the left over nitrogen and hold it making it available to the growing potatoes next season. 

Mycorrhizal fungi are soil organisms which form symbiotic relationships with plants. Our forests are totally dependent on them. These connections are significantly disturbed when the soil is tilled/ cultivated. These fungi can be purchased in a dry form and be used to inoculate the potato tubers with spores at planting time. If you are fortunate enough to live with naturally decomposing areas around  you can take a few handfuls of the forest humus and mix it with some soil in a bucket and add a small amount to each planting hole with each potato. 

Purchase good quality certified tubers. Certified tubers are deemed to be free of viruses etc. that can devastate potato crops. They will be about the size of a hen's egg. Place them in shallow trays, rose end up to sprout. The rose end is the end with the most eyes. Place in an area with good air circulation. Once the sprouts have grown about 2 inches or so they are ready for planting. If many sprouts have appeared dis bud all but 2 or 3 of the strongest shoots at the rose end. These shoots give you a 2 - 3 week head start on the growing season. Be very gentle handling the tubers so as not to break off the shoots or it sets them back.

Prepare V- shaped furrows about 4 inches deep, ideally the furrows should run north - south, Early potatoes can be set in furrows about 1 -2 feet apart, late potatoes need a good 2 or more feet between rows. Tubers should be spaced a foot or slightly more apart. Place the tubers gently, rose end up, in the furrows and cover with not more than 3-4 inches of soil.

Early potatoes can be planted out from mid-March through April here at the coast but will still depend on how wet the soil is. This year (2011) we have been fortunate to have our first potatoes planted in mid- March, one of our earliest attempts. The soil was sufficiently dried out.

Cover tubers so there is a slight ridge over the furrows. As soon as the first new growth shows through the soil hoe the soil snugly up around the the new shoots. This is especially important if there is still potential risk of frost. The frost can cause significant damage and delay growth. When plants attain a height of 8 inches or so the real work of hilling up the soil begins. Hoe the soil up around the plants to a height of 6 inches or so. Do Not make the hills too steep or the tubers forming underneath may be exposed to light and turn green. Remember that the new potatoes will form ABOVE the planted tuber, NOT below it. Lower hills will also retain moisture better. 

The work of hilling the potatoes will be done about every three weeks , 3 times or so total. Repeated hilling may be dependent on rainfall too. Heavy rains cause compaction and tuber exposure. You may have to hill the tubers after heavy rain to protect the plants. As you are hilling you are also keeping the weed competition to a minimum. Too many weeds can definitely affect yields. BUT also keep in mind that each time you hill you can be pruning the roots of the potatoes. Too much pruning of the roots robs the plant of it's ability to supply nutrients to the growing tubers. 

You do not want to plant your potatoes much later than June. Potato growth is dependent on the amount of sunshine hours available. As the accumulation of heat units drops off markedly by midsummer and sugar storage declines so does the potential yield.

Oh the temptation of those first baby spuds !  With early varieties it is possible to dig for new potatoes when the plant is in bloom. Once the plants have finished blooming and begin to brown off it is best to cut off the plants and compost them BEFOREThe blight lurks and lives in the soil just waiting to infect the next crop of potatoes. Its also why good crop rotation is so important. Here on the coast the temperatures just don't get low enough to kill off these spores. We have special, separate compost piles for plant matter that is infected with various afflictions. If these piles are properly and adequately heated/ composted they will pose no further threat.

Here at Ironwood Farm we are mostly growing potatoes that are not suitable for winter storage. We do not have the capacity or controls for holding potatoes so grow mostly for fresh market eating. We eat our fill when the time comes and thoroughly enjoy them for the time we have them available. 

Potatoes are probably one of the more labour intensive crops to grow but so worth it. They definitely require some time and attention but hey anything worth having is worth some effort. 

There is a lot more that can be said about potatoes but for now I think its enough. If you have further questions about potatoes let me know and lets see if I can answer them.

Good Luck and good wishes for a bountiful harvest !