Talking Sweet About Nothing

After all of our hard work last year recovering and preparing our backyard, we finally got to dive in to planting. We planned our space using Google Sketchup, a drawing and modeling application, that allowed us to visualize the space and our ideas more effectively. We went through a few different versions and it is still evolving as we go.

We planned our plantings to supplement our CSA produce. While it would fun to attempt all sort of fruits and vegetables, it doesn't make sense to double up on items that we would be receiving through the season from our CSA. Instead, we wanted to plant things that we purchase in addition to our weekly share. For instance, we could never have enough onions or garlic and we constantly buy tomatoes when they are in season. In addition, we also wanted a large portion of the yard to be dedicated to perennial kitchen herbs. Not only would we have them in abundance for cooking, but we wouldn't have to re-plant every year.

The first things we planted were 40 garlic cloves back in November '10. These were provided to us by Jason from Breezy Willow. You simply break bulb into individual cloves and plant them in the fall. By late winter we already had signs of life.

From Garden '11

In early spring my parents came to town for a visit. We spent the morning doing some general spring yard cleanup like re-defining the edges on the beds in the front yard, but the biggest project was planting onions. I bought three pounds of onion sets (basically teeeny, baby onions) which to our best guess is somewhere around 300-350 onions. We only used about 2/3 of them and it didn't take long before they started sprouting.

From Garden '11

I saved the remaining 1/3 of sets to plant a couple of months later for a second harvest.

From Garden '11

For the rest of our planting, we waited until after Katie's semester ended so we could dedicate some time. We got all of our plugs from Sharp's Farm in Howard county. Sharps's starts all of their seeds in their own blend of compost, entirely organic start to finish.

Here's our tomatoes and peppers at the beginning.

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Here they are later in the summer.

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And our first few basil varieties.

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And after.

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Over time, we filled holes in the garden with cuttings from the basil plants. Between pizza and pesto, we can never have enough basil!

We also planted a large variety of common kitchen herbs.

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(ignore the soaker. I left it in the sun for a few days to lose the curls and kinks from storage)

In mid-July we harvested the garlic. In its place we planted approximately 120 Hungarian hot wax pepper plants.

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Here are the peppers after only a few weeks. You can also see how much the herbs in the background.

From Garden '11

We recently had our yard certified Bay Wise by the University of Maryland Extension Service. The Bay-Wise program is designed to inform and encourage landscape practices that promote the health of local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay.

I initially contacted the AA County Master Gardeners regarding some run-off affecting a side area of our lawn. In addition to scheduling a consultation for this, they directed me towards the Bay-Wise literature including the "yard-stick" used to measure our current landscape practices. The general ideas on this yard-stick encourage one to:

Fertilize Wisely
Water Efficiently
Mow Properly
Control Storm Water Runoff
Mulch Appropriately
Recycle Yard Waste
Manage Yard Pests with Integrated Pest Management
Plant Wisely
Encourage Wildlife

I knew this was a goal Katie and I would aspire towards, but I had my big backyard project to focus on. I went through the Yard Stick to estimate our progress, but had planned on saving the certification goal for next year. The Yard Stick asks a series of questions related to the above topics assigning points/inches towards a goal of 36. In my rough estimation, I gave us a 25-28 on the scale. Not bad, but not quite there yet.

On the day of my meeting with the AAC Master Gardeners we discussed my runoff problem and they offered amazing advice on how we might control this better (more on this in a future post). While they were here, we took a leisurely tour around the entire yard and they offered comments and advice on everything I could think of to ask. These three ladies were an incredible source of experience and information. We took about 30-45 minutes just looking at everything in the front and back yards. They loved the idea of no-grass backyard garden. They praised the reuse of the compost bin and the Cedar mulch as pathways and ground cover. I had just installed my first rain barrel along with the soaker hose system for part of the garden, too.

From Garden '11

After the outside tour, we came inside to go over some literature, discuss some specific plans for the runoff problem on the side of the house, and to talk more about the Bay Wise program. I told them I had already estimated my progress and that I wouldn't meet the requirements just yet, but they wanted to go through all of the questions with me just for fun. We went through the entire questionnaire and they were able to award points/inches that I hadn't originally given myself based on their tour of the yard. In the end we actually had 54 inches when we only needed 36 for the certification. It turns out I had been way too conservative on some accounts and had completely missed some others. So we are officially "Bay-Wise" and now have an awesome sign in our front yard for bragging rights ;)

From Garden '11

Here's a short list of some of the practices that we use around our yard that helped us in achieving this. The list is far from complete and some of these topics actually encompass several more narrow topics:

use of native plants
removal and/or control of non-native plants (I'm looking at you English Ivy...grrr)
no lawn in backyard (no mowing!)
mowing with highest setting in front yard
no irrigation for lawn
no pesticides
organic fertilizer on backyard garden
mulch on all beds, around trees, and on garden
rain barrel/soaker hose system
composting
encourage wildlife through native plants and shelters

In between backyard tillings, we had another high priority yard project on the side of our house. There were two Cedar trees that had become severely overgrown, to the point where they could reach the siding on the house. These Cedars were also choking out two other nearby trees.


We had these two Cedars removed and asked that their chips be left behind. Take that Cedar trees.


In addition to recycling, we wanted the Cedar chips to help ward off pests such as moths and mosquitoes. We had plans to use them for pathways and borders in our backyard. We also mulched our front yard beds. In fact, we had so much we shared it with our neighbors. This Cedar chip pile could swallow my car.


The ornamental Maple and the Cherry tree in the backyard are much happier without those Cedars getting in the way.

Most of you who know me, know that I spent most of last summer clearing out our backyard. Our house had been vacant for three years before we moved in and the backyard was visual proof. The neighbors had kept up the front lawn, but the backyard had been overtaken by English Ivy, rocks, and nearly every variety of weed. It was beyond saving. Our only option was to start from scratch. I tilled the entire backyard and hauled away the top layer.


Ivy had overtaken much of the yard and fence-line. Taming that was an early priority.


We discovered that our soil was not that great. It's thick clay and full of rocks. I was constantly inventing ways to use the ridiculous amount of rocks we were pulling out of the ground.


To amend the soil, we decided we needed to start composting ASAP. Our first compost pile was made with cinder blocks that I uncovered in the backyard.


Meanwhile, I got some used pallets and built a more permanent compost bin.


After tilling and removing the top layer plus all visible rocks, I smoothed the dirt and tamped it to compact the soil and reduce any erosion while it sat dormant. We let it sit for a couple of months in order to let all weeds that had gone to seed re-sprout. By October, the backyard was full of weeds again. Our neighbors thought we were crazy, but we did this on purpose. I tilled again, removed all weeds and their roots, smoothed and tamped. Yes, I basically did the same thing twice, but I wanted to be thorough with killing off as much of the weeds and grass as possible. By November I had finished round two and we were covering the backyard with a deep layer of dead leaves courtesy of all of our neighbors (many of them, unknowingly). We let this sit over the winter to prevent any new growth and to decompose and improve our soil.

This past weekend I labored over some pizza using ingredients from our CSA. I made four margherita pizzas, and one using sauteed onions and swiss chard with fresh mozz.

Dear friends and the internet at large,

We've seen your year-in-review posts. We've listened to your best-of lists, and we have to respectfully disagree. We offer this rebuttal as evidence to music from 2009 that you may have overlooked or under-appreciated. The following file is a compilation of 5 songs that we think represents the best music released last year. We present to you, Exhibit Awesome:

Laroux - Bulletproof
Faunts - Feel.Love.Thinking.Of.
Tegan & Sara - Hell
Bat For Lashes - Daniel
They Might Be Giants - Roy G. Biv

Click here to download the file.

I think one thing that speaks to the excellence of these choices is that they all appear on solid albums. Each artist took care to craft a full length collection. Each album a sum greater than individual parts, an art form that has sadly taken the back seat to single-song listens. Even the "funny" album (Here Comes Science) is brilliant on so many levels, not only is it fun to listen to, it's inspiring, making it so much more than just a novelty record for kids.

For your convenience:

My great friend, Chelsea, over at 'brarian du monde! posted a blog detailing her journey to Dublin, TX, home of the world's oldest Dr. Pepper bottling plant. Her post reminded me that I hadn't posted anything about my visit there last summer. Chelsea and I share a reverence for the holy trinity (salsa, chips, and Dr P), and a lifelong love of Dr Pepper. While I don't think I can possibly add anything more to Chelsea's hilarious narrative, I do have some photos to share. Make no mistake, this was a special day for me.

Last week we celebrated my 33 1/3 birthday. I spent the day playing records (33 1/3 only, of course) and making pizza.

The Menu


The Prep


The Results






There were many more pizzas made, but as the evening progressed, the camera became less of a priority.

Day 1
McKeesport, PA to Ohiopyle, PA
Distance: 60.08 miles
Average Speed: 11.1 mph
Riding Time: 5hr 21m

From Bike Trip

Day 2
Ohiopyle, PA to Cumberland, MD
Distance: 73.82 miles
Average Speed: 10.8 mph
Riding Time: 6hr 42m

From Bike Trip

Day 3
Cumberland, MD to Hancock, MD
Distance: 60.37 miles
Average Speed: 10.8 mph
Riding Time: 5hr 31m

From Bike Trip

Day 4
Hancock, MD to Brunswick, MD
Distance: 73.88 miles
Average Speed: 11.5 mph
Riding Time: 6hr 27m

From Bike Trip

Day 5
Brunswick, MD to Washington D.C.
Distance: 56.21 miles
Average Speed: 10.8 mph
Riding Time: 5hr 10m

From Bike Trip

Totals
Distance: 324.36 miles
Average Speed: 11mph
Riding Time: 29hr 11m

Click here for our complete photo album.

You know what I never imagined would be so difficult? Finding live baker's yeast. At my pizza class in Philly the chef, Jeff Michaud, used live yeast in his dough. He purchased his at the local Whole Foods. 'That's cool,' I thought. 'I shouldn't have any problems finding it in Baltimore.' Wrong. I tried both Whole Foods locations, Trader Joe's, and finally asked the bakery departments at a couple of area grocery stores, all of which only carried dry yeast. This sort of bummed me out. Dry yeast is perfectly acceptable, but I was eager to try out my new skills learned in Philly. I remember my mom buying the stuff in the dairy department of any grocery store when I was a kid. Fliechman's sold it wrapped in tiny tin foil cubes. Now nobody has it.

Instead of giving up, I decided to reach out for help. I wrote the Pizzablogger. Pizzablogger is from Baltimore, and for the last few months has been keeping up with the local pizza scene at www.pizzablogger.org. He has an excellent site sharing tons of information on all things pizza related. It's definitely worth adding to your feed reader.

PB quickly wrote back suggesting that I try Graul's Market in Towson. I had been salivating for pizza for days, so I immediately jumped in the car to buy some yeast. Sure enough, Graul's was happy to sell me a small portion from behind the bakery counter. When I arrived at home I immediately got together the ingredients for dough and made a batch. I knew I'd have to wait at least 24 hours to eat, so I wanted to get started as soon as possible.

My first pizza out of the oven proved to be a huge payoff for the extra effort.

This pizza is doomed.


My dough stretching technique is getting better thanks to the tips learned from Jeff Michaud. All in all, everything is getting much more consistent with each pie. In fact, the pizzas that followed (from the same batch of dough) tasted even better as they had more time to stew in the fridge.

A few weeks ago as a birthday gift to myself, I took a pizza vacation up to the City of Brotherly Love. The impetus for this trip was a pizza making class with Jeff Michaud, the executive chef and co-owner of Osteria. Jeff is an acclaimed chef, making renowned pizzas, and even garnering a spot on Alan Richman's recent piece in GQ

Richman's piece covers American's love of pizza and outlines his list of the top 25 pizzas in America. It is definitely worth reading.

The class was smaller than I expected. I think there were about 12 people there, and only about 6 of us really participating. Jeff covered the basics of making the dough and forming it. We made two different base sauces; a traditional tomato sauce and a white, ricotta-based sauce. Anyone who wanted had the chance to form dough balls for proofing, stretch the dough (from dough made the day before), and top a pizza.


Here's Jeff, his apprentice, and a view of the mirror above the prep area.


We spent a good amount of time practicing stretching the dough. Jeff was right there the entire time to offer help and answer questions.


The two ladies work at Foster's, the home goods store sponsoring the demo. Jeff's apprentice is slicing two pies for tasting. These two pizzas are "pizza capra e zucchini" (white pizza with zucchini, ricotta cheese, and pesto).

This demo was such an amazing experience. Jeff Michaud was exceptionally friendly and eager to share his knowledge and passion for pizza. I learned so much and can't wait to practice making more pizzas.

Even though we got to eat everything we made (and all of it was delicious, of course), I still had another stop before heading back to Baltimore. My good friend Keith is from Philadelphia, and has always told me that if I ever had the chance, I had to try Tacconelli's Pizza. Tacconelli's is a legendary Philly pizzeria that's been operating in some form or another since 1918. It also came in at number 9 on that top 25 list I mentioned earlier.

Besides excellent pizza, Tacconelli's is known for a couple of other things. The family began the business as a full-scale bakery. In order to accommodate full production, the founder, Giovanni Tacconelli, and a few friends, built a 20'X20' brick oven. Think about that. That's seriously bigger than most people's bedrooms. Also, it is highly recommended that one call ahead to reserve their dough. Apparently they make a limited amount of dough each day, and where they're out...they're out. Luckily, Keith gave me the heads up and I called a day in advance to make sure I had a dough ball waiting for me.


From the outside it is very unassuming. It's located on a quiet neighborhood side street. Inside is no different. The basic menu in a plastic sleeve offers only pizzas and drinks (BYOB, btw). The decor looks like my grandma's house (not that there's anything wrong with that) and you're given paper plates and napkins as you are seated. No frill, and I love it.


Guess what. The pizza is amazing. The cracker thin crust is charred and delicious.


No droopy crust here!

Unfortunately, the kitchen is separate from the two main dining areas. I was curious to see the giant brick oven, so I asked the server if it was possible to stick my head in to see. She was nice enough to escort me back and let me stay for a minute or two to watch a couple of pizzas being made.




It's a little difficult to tell, but you can see back into the oven. The scale is weird in the picture, but it's awesome how far back it goes. There were about 2 other pizzas in there, too.


Funny side note, check out that long pizza peel handle. It extends back another few feet and is propped up on a makeshift table.

After all of the pizza from our trials in class, and the excellent pie from Tacconelli's, I had to take a few slices home in a box. It's only about an hour and half from Philly back to Baltimore, but I couldn't handle the smell in the car and ended up eating two of them. I had planned on saving at least one for Katie. I failed. The last piece was gone the next morning.