Gardening Tips

Well the summer is officially starting this weekend! Memorial Day has been the official kickoff of summer in the United States for years, but here in Western New York, the entire weekend is about camping, grilling and airing out your house after a long winter! Fortunately, winter this year was not unbearable. We hardly had any snow and we had a stretch of 80 and 90 degree days in March. That's unheard of in Buffalo!

Those early, warm days gave most people a kick start on their gardening. However, we had some nasty nights in April with hard frost that wiped out a lot of fruit crops in the area. Looks like the price of cherries, apples, peaches, etc. will be going up this year.

That being said, have you ever thought about growing your own garden? It's easy, fun and rewarding to pick your own vegetables or fruit to use in dishes that you're preparing! It's also cost effective as the price of a tomato plant is much cheaper than supplying your family or household with tomatoes for a few months!

Last year, I did a little research on companion gardening and decided to give it a shot. I'm no expert gardener by any means - more like a novice, but I like to test new things and I enjoy seeing the results.

For example, did you know that tomatoes grow best when they're planted in the same area every year? I had no idea, but I've always planted my tomatoes in approximately the same area each year. This past year, my tomato plants were almost as tall as my 6 foot stockade fence! Also, did you know that tomatoes love garlic, basil and carrots? They do! I tried the garlic and basil last year and had a family member try the carrots. We got amazing tomatoes that were so flavorful it was ridiculous!

I also tried bumping up my cucumber crop last year. I found that they loved the bean plants and the bean plants loved the cucumbers. I got a huge amount of vegetables from both crops. We are still eating homemade, canned pickles, canned green beans and frozen green beans. Bean plants also love celery.

I've tried a few new combinations this year and hope to have even better results. My tomatoes have garlic and basil growing in between them this year. I've also planted the cucumbers and beans together again, but I planted some new stuff this year that I'm keeping my fingers crossed will work out. If it works - I'll be posting another entry around harvest time with my results!

We have a small garden here at Make Your Own as well!

We grow several herbs and different types of flowers right in front of the store. The herbs we harvest all throughout the summer then we dehydrate them in the store and offer them as free samples to our customers.

This year, we're also going to try our hand at growing hops! Hopefully, we'll be able to offer a couple of varieties of fresh hops to our customers in the Fall. The browned spot in the upper right hand corner of the picture below is where we're going to plant our hops.

Currently, we're amending the soil and getting the plants ready for the ground! Have you ever made beer? Check out all of our beer supplies here and let us help you get started!

Well, that's all I have time for today! I hope you've enjoyed this post about gardening and I'd love to hear any results you've had from companion gardening! Just leave a comment below.



Making Mustard...easier than you think!

Hi to all you DIY'ers out there! Welcome back! I hope you're excited to read about making mustard!

When we first opened this store several years ago, I was on a gourmet food kick. I enjoyed making food that called for gourmet ingredients and a lot of those recipes specified gourmet, grainy mustard. I searched the grocery stores and even went to some specialty food stores, but I was unwilling to pay $5 per ounce for mustard. So, we started researching and testing and the Make Your Own Mustard kit was born. You can find the mustard kit here.

We have included 4 different recipes for making mustard. They include: honey mustard, sweet & spicy beer mustard, tangy horseradish mustard and apple cider maple mustard. Each recipe is easy to make and simply delicious.

However, we did run into a few snags, which prompted us to notate some tips and tricks when it comes to making mustard.

~3 of our recipes call for coarsely ground mustard seed, which we have included in the kit for you, but the seed is not pre-ground. We did not pre-grind the seeds for you because we found that everyone's taste is different. Carol liked her mustard seed a little on the coarse side. Sharon liked hers more fine. I didn't have a preference, but it's up to you how coarse or fine you'd like your mustard seed ground.

We used a spice grinder and a coffee bean grinder to grind our mustard seed, but not everyone has access to those appliances. There are other options, you can use a blender or food processor, but if you don't have either of those appliances, you can place your mustard seed between two pieces of cardboard and smash them with a hammer. It's primitive, but it works!

~After making your mustard and letting it refrigerate for at least 24 hours, if it's too watery for your taste you can add a pinch or two of mustard powder to thicken things up. Make sure to stir well after adding the powder.

~Once your mustard is made and refrigerated, make sure to give it a stir or a shake occasionally to distribute its flavors.

~It's best to let your mustard age in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 weeks before consuming. As long as your mustard is refrigerated it will keep for up to 6 months.

~Our recipes all call for cider vinegar when making mustard, however if you prefer a sweeter tasting mustard you may substitute the cider vinegar for rice vinegar.

Did you know that the mustard plant was one of the first plants grown and cultivated by early farmers? The Romans prepared mustard by mixing crushed seeds with wine creating a paste not much different that the mustard we eat today!

In closing, don't waste your money on the gourmet mustard in the store. Making your own is easy and tastes a million times better than the jars you buy from the store. Plus it's much cheaper! Don't forget to check out our Make Your Own Mustard Kit on our website.

 

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