The Apartment Farm

Even if we don’t end up doing anything “official” on major holidays, I still always like to make something special for dinner. We stayed at home and relaxed today, and had an early dinner of bison burgers on whole wheat buns, cornichons, and my own recipe for potato salad– White Wine Vinegar & Honey Mustard Potato Salad. It’s so good, I’ll share the recipe with you.

White Wine Vinegar & Honey Mustard Potato Salad

1 pound of fingerling potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces

4 tablespoons honey mustard (my favorite is from Stovers Farm over in Michigan)

4 tablespoons white wine vinegar

8 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil

3 tablespoons parsley

2 cloves of garlic, minced

salt and pepper

3 tablespoons small capers (optional)

1.) Boil your cut potatoes in salted water until just tender, about 15 minutes.

2.) While the potatoes are boiling, whisk together the remaining ingredients. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

3.) Drain the potatoes and put them into your serving bowl. Pour the dressing on top and stir gently so the potatoes are evenly coated. Let them cool down to room temperature, or put them in the refrigerator until they are chilled through– they’re good either way.

As I mentioned, these are a great addition to bison burgers, which you can grill out or broil in the oven. Bison is great because it’s lean, but also doesn’t dry out. And the flavor is unbeatable. And whole wheat buns are good for you! Natural Ovens makes a great whole wheat bun that is light, tasty and doesn’t overwhelm you– they use a finely ground flour so no chunks of wheat to chew on. Of course, you can always make your own buns. Oh, and the other great thing about this potato salad is the fact that it includes no mayonnaise or egg, so it’s picnic friendly– you can leave it out in warmer temps and you don’t have to worry about poisoning your guests. Always a plus! Give it a try, I think you’ll like as much as we do.

There is nothing better than getting your hands in the dirt. Yesterday I finally settled in to a couple of hours of gardening. The first step was to sort through and organize everything– I had piles of pots, bags of soil and such things just laying around. Not exactly the look you want in your living room. Then I got down to the business of planting. I had four tomato transplants and a lemon rosemary plant to pot up. I decided to put two of the tomatoes into the Earthbox, with the remaining two going into my two largest round planters. The thyme went into the green porcelain planter where the doomed rosemary used to live. Setting up the Earthbox was quite easy. First, I covered up the drainage hole on the bottom with a double layer of plastic (recycled from one of the bags the accessories came in) and some tape. Since I’m using it indoors on carpet, I don’t want water draining everywhere. I’ll just have to be careful not to overwater it, but that shouldn’t be too difficult since I think  it holds only about two gallons of water at a time. Then I popped in the rolling casters it came with (no tools necessary, and now I can easily move it about) and fitted the bottom screen into place (it holds the soil above the water). Then I dumped in the soil it came with, and was pleasantly surprised it came with about twice as much as the planter could hold. So I have leftovers for other plantings, which is great. I then mixed in 2 cups of dolomite into the top four inches of soil and fitted the included black plastic mulch over the top. I cut out two holes near the front of the container and settled two of the tomatoes in. I top-watered (just this once) to settle any air pockets in the soil near their roots, and it was done. Next, I emptied the old soil from the green pot and filled it up with the leftover Earthbox soil. No amendments into this container, so I just planted the lemon thyme right in and gave it a good water. I finished up by planting seeds for two varieties of lettuce, sunflowers, kale and edamame. But the time those get to tranplantable size, I’ll have a small collection of wine crates to plant them in, and I think they’ll look really good in the living room. I felt much better after spending time farming– tomatoes in the sun smell so good! I’ll be sure to keep you all posted on their progress.

Unless you live in a McMansion in the middle of suburbia, your bathroom is probably about the size of walk-in closet. And if you have several people using it on a regular basis, there is a bunch of stuff all over the place. So how do you make your bathroom both visually appealing and functional, without breaking the bank? Here are a few tips.

- A soap dish and toothbrush holder are a necessity in all bathrooms. By why plunk a run-of-the-mill set down on your counter? Think about other objects that can be used as these items. For instance, in my bathroom, I use a milk glass custard cup for a soap dish. I filled the bottom with a half inch of clean pea gravel (you could use marbles, buttons, whatever) to provide drainage, and voila. The key is elevating the soap off of whatever surface you’re using so that it has a chance to drain and dry off in between uses. This prevents you from having a yucky, ugly slimy mess of soap for people to use. For a toothbrush holder, I currently have a stainless steel and white stone one, but I’m going to trade it out with a milk glass tumbler with a floral frog (the ones with the holes, not spikes) in the bottom. This will allow me to space toothbrushes apart in the glass and fit with the overall look of the bathroom.

- There are a lot of accessories to be stored in the bathroom, from makeup and personal care items to hair appliances and extras. In my bathroom, I coordinate my storage by using unique milk glass pieces on the counter. Even though each piece is different, it still looks unified because everything is made of the same material. For makeup storage on the counter, I have all of the necessities in a rectangular milk glass container. We are fortunate enough to have a built-in medicine cabinet in our bathroom, and that’s where we store toothpaste, deodorant, mouthwash, nailpolish, cotton swabs, etc. To keep the cabinet organized, I utilize small boxes and dividers. If you don’t have a medicine cabinet and counter space is at a premium or non-existent, you can invest in wall-hung containers. This can be anything from a simple plastic container attached with a large suction cup to a wall rail system with hanging baskets. Choose whichever option works best for you, and everything will be handy as you need it.

- If you’re really short on storage, you can get an etagere (the cabinets that fit over the toilet). These come in all shorts of styles, but the most affordable ones are the basic stainless steel. You can organize items on this type of shelf and prevent clutter by sorting like items into photo boxes, wicker baskets, wire baskets, hat boxes or whatever you’d like. If you’d like to further disguise your storage, you can sew simple curtains to hang from each shelf to conceal the contents.

- If you have a pedestal sink, you can always sew a simple skirt for it and attach it with velcro. This will provide extra hidden storage for bulkier items like the toilet brush and cleaning supplies.

- You don’t have to have a big budget to make your space look great. For example in bathroom, I have cream tile and white walls, and we’re not allowed to paint. So working with that base, I choose a cream shower curtain that is embroidered with bamboo stalks. To coordinate with that (and cover up the awful tiny white tile with filthy grout on the floor) I choose a sage green rug. I replaced the ugly 1970’s plastic dome light fixture on the overhead light with a rice paper shade with a bamboo motif stenciled on. To provide functional wall decor, I installed a pine molding shelf on one wall over the hand towel rack. I store bath salts and extra guest soaps on the shelf in decorative containers, keeping them in an easy to reach location, and it looks really good. On the other wall, we have a simple framed Japanese print. Behind the door, we have a towel hook, but you could also go with an over-the-door model.

Good places to look for affordable accessories (remember, think outside the box) are thrift stores, garage/yard sales and elsewhere in your home. Who says your bathroom has to be boring and messy?

We woke up this morning to overcast skies and a cool breeze, but that didn’t deter my goal of heading to the farmer’s market. It was a little slow when we arrived due to the weather and the fact that’s it just the beginning of the season, but most of the vendors from last year where there, as well as a couple of new faces. There was a full assortment of produce– lettuces, kales, fresh garlic, mushrooms, locally-grown greenhouse tomatoes, Asian greens, green onions, radishes, early turnips and beets, fingerling potatoes, spinach, and more. There were also cheeses, breads, meats, eggs, preserves, pickles, sauces, and plants (flowers, herbs, succulents and veggies). We ended up getting just a few things, but they’re all going to be great in meals this week. We picked up some fingerling potatoes from Nichols Farm (www.nicholsfarm.com), two varieties of lettuce from Henry’s Farm (www.henrysfarm.com), and kale and radishes from Green Acres (gbeccles@msn.com- they had a website, but it appears to be down; I’ll update the link when it works again). I also picked up a jar of honey mustard from Stovers (www.stoversupic.com). I’m really excited about all of it– we’ll have a couple of green salads this week with the lettuces and radishes (along with some chives we picked up at the Daley Plaza Farmer’s Market downtown on Thursday), and the kale I will serve in one of my all-time favorite things to eat– wilted kale with shallots and bacon. The fingerling potatoes will get eaten for tonight’s dinner in the form of husband’s home made “chips” served with breaded perch and organic lemon juice for dipping. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it all! I didn’t find any herbs that caught my eye this time. I’ve been looking for unique varieties of thyme to add to my windowsill, and everyone seemed to be selling only common winter thyme so far. I also didn’t bring home any tomato transplants, they were all indeterminate varieties and pretty huge– I just couldn’t see a good way to lug 3 of them home this time. I may head over to the garden center tomorrow and see what I can find. But all in all, the farmer’s market is off to a good start this year, and I can’t wait to see how the season progresses.

Friday night dinner. There’s a mismatch of ingredients in my fridge and pantry since it’s the day before farmer’s market and my Saturday marketing. Pasta, frozen cod, broccoli, a small onion, dry beans, a handful of potatoes, an assortment of condiments and such. I was having a hard time coming up with a dish that used up what we had on hand when husband had an epiphany in the kitchen– what about chicken pot pie? Hm. We did have some frozen chicken breasts in the freezer, as well as a couple of carrots, potatoes and that onion. And I always have Jiffy pie crust mix in the pantry and chicken broth to make a gravy. Sounded too simple, but it’s in the oven and starting to smell really good, so husband’s idea might not be half bad.

Simple Chicken Pot Pie

2 boxes Jiffy pie crust mix

2 chicken breasts, cubed

4 small potatoes, cubed

3 small carrots, diced

1 small onion, diced

2 cups of chicken stock

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1.) Mix up both boxes of the crust- I find that one box makes one crust (despite the recommendation on the back of the box that it makes two) and form into two discs and set in the fridge to chill.

2.) Cut your veggies. I like to leave the skins on– saves prep time and they contain a lot of good nutrients you don’t want to miss out on.

3.) Cube the chicken.

4.) To prepare the gravy, lightly brown the flour in the butter. Slowly whisk your chicken stock, whisking constantly until it starts to thicken up. Season with salt and pepper.

5.) Roll out both crusts and line the bottom of your pie plate with one. Heap in the veggies and chicken. Pour your gravy over the top, and lay the second crust on top. Seal the edges by pinching, and use a knife to cut a few vents in the top (if you want to dress up your pie you can use a small cookie cutter to cut a vent in the top crust just after you roll it out).

6.) Bake for 15 minutes at 450, then another 45 minutes to an hour at 350.

Serve hot– this is a great one dish meal. If you like, you can add thyme, rosemary or another herb to the gravy for more flavor. Or try another vegetable like parsnips.

There’s nothing I like better than three whole days to do whatever I want. I’ve got some big plans. Tomorrow morning we’re heading to the Evanston farmer’s market– it opened last weekend. I’ve got a big budget and lots of bags ready to go. I’m looking forward to getting some blue potatoes, fresh lettuce, baby leeks and whatever else catches my eye. It’s sure to be jampacked with lots of great stuff! I hope someone is selling venison jerky (I’ve been craving more ever since the Dane County Farmer’s Market) and if I’m lucky there will be few morels available, even though the season is pretty much over here in northern Illinois.

I also plan to get my hands in the dirt this weekend. I was walking up the street to my office building the other day, passing the caged urban trees and it occured to me that it has been too long since I actually touched bark. That made me feel really far from nature. So I’ll be doing a bit of gardening this weekend to reconnect. After all the plants died because of the thesis debacle, I haven’t yet had to chance to replant, so this weekend I’m going to reseed my lettuces, kale, and edamame. I think I may just purchase a couple of tomato transplants since I waited too long to get mine in. Hopefully I’ll find some nice organically started heirlooms at the farmer’s market tomorrow. I’m really pleased with how well my thyme is growing, so I’m also going to look for a few more herb plants as well. Although, I’m two for two on killing rosemary, so anything but that.

In between relaxing and gardening, we may head up to the Chicago Botanic Gardens this weekend and take a picnic. My favorite garden there is the vegetable patch and orchard, and I’d really like to see how it’s shaping up so far.

So I’m pretty excited about the whole weekend– stay tuned to hear about my finds from the farmer’s market!

Yes, dear Readers, I finally filled out the neglected “About” tab! If you want some tidbits about who I am, why I run Apartment Farm, and a way to get in touch, click on it (in the upper right hand side of the page) and read on.

I chanced upon an interesting “magazine” a couple of weeks ago called the Small Farmer’s Journal. It’s a larger-sized magazine that is jam packed with informative articles, charts, drawing, photos, etc. It’s published quarterly, and some of the articles in the Winter 2007 issue I picked up include “Horesepowered Vineyard”, “Bread Ovens”, “Open Pollinated Corn” and instructions for how to make a hog feeder, plant trees and windbreaks, and recipes. It also contains plenty of lore, reader letters, essays, cartoons and poetry. It’s a well-rounded read– definitely not a typical magazine that you flip through in 20 minutes and forget about. I’m sure they’ll prove to be valuable additions to my homestead library, and yours. Issue and subscription information can be had at www.smallfarmersjournal.com.

Just a reminder to everyone submitting articles to the Apartment Farm Get Local Guide that article submissions are due on June 1. If anyone has questions, please contact me by leaving a comment so I can get in touch with you.

Don’t know what the Get Local Guide is all about? You can find details at http://apartmentfarm.wordpress.com/2007/03/11/contribute-to-the-apartment-farm-get-local-guide/.

We don’t all have grandmas in our lives to teach us canning, quilting, weaving and the like. So what do we do when we want to learn these skills as a new hobby, a new way of life, or as an enriching educational experience? Now we can head down to the Folk School to spend a weekend or a week learning hertiage skills. Created in 1925, the Folk School offers a wide array of non-credit classes near Murphy, North Carolina. Tuition, room and board are reasonable. For lodging, dorm, shared or single rooms and camping are available, all including meals. Camping is obviously the cheapest option. Prices for classes vary based on the skill being taught and the materials required. Spending a week at the Folk School would be a great way to immerse yourself in learning something new. Complete class descriptions and information is provided on their website, along with a catalog request at www.folkschool.com.