Well, it is certainly shaping up to be an interesting "fall" (yes, it is officially meteorological fall). We started fall seedlings lately, only to have the weather take a sudden turn to the "July" temperatures. The poor things were barely hanging on! Most all bean plants survived and are now safely down in the Lassens store in Ventura, where it is at least 20 degrees cooler. A bunch of the seedlings, however, either literally fried in the sun, despite us watering at least twice a day and moving them to partial shade, or they never sprouted at all (soil too hot). So, if the weather cooperates this weekend, we will be replanting a WHOLE bunch of seed trays. Hey, that's the breaks in any form of agriculture!

School (as in homeschool for us) started this week as well, so this newsletter has had some delay while we got rolling back into the groove of school-time. It has been an interesting challenge to try to balance the prep for 3 kids' schoolwork and the prep for business (including writing this), so please forgive me if for the next couple of months you find the timing of these newsletters a little...hmmm... erratic?...while we find our new balance! We will do our best to stay on two week intervals!

Also our....errrr....garden (otherwise known as "the weed forest" around here) is way due for an overhaul this fall, and we are working on a concept using permaculture, food forest, and rain garden principles. It will involve uprooting (all puns intended) a greenhouse and moving it to another part of the yard, in addition to adding a second greenhouse before spring. I am eager to share photos and stories of this process as we move thru it on our blog, so keep an eye out for those starting in a couple of months or so.....

Just one example from the Wisconsin Dept of Natural Resources

Rain gardens? Here? In California? Yes, well, normally we would have more need of them. But even in the lean years like we have had, it is helpful to have rain gardens for that time it actually rains around here. If we actually have an El Nino winter, such as they are predicting so far, then it will be even more helpful for those downpours that seem to come with it.

The two most mentioned points of a rain garden are 1) to prevent urban run-off and its associated pollution to our water supplies, and 2) to help prevent flooding in the area right around your own home and/or property.

If you haven't already heard of them, a rain garden is, in its simplest form, a basin with which you retain the rain runoff from your roof and pavement areas. It can be a man-made or naturally occurring spot, though obviously if you have a suitable place where it is already collecting this would be the most ideal to try to work with. Otherwise, you can choose a spot 10-15 ft from your house in which to dig a depression (no funneling it into your neighbor's yard, even if they are obnoxious!). You can check here for a method to help determine what size it should be. The rule of thumb seems to be about 35% of your total square-footage of the roof and/or area you are trying to keep from becoming rain runoff.

Once you have determined the rough square footage of your rain garden, you dig out a pond-style depression (and channel if needed). Any ol' shape will do; just make it something you will find aesthetically pleasing time and time again. The tricky part is testing it. If you happen to be where you are still getting regular rainfall, then just wait until the next decent rainstorm to see if it all ends up in the depression you dug, and if it is big to hold a typical rainfall in your area. If you are here in SoCal, you may have to get on your roof with a hose or sprinkler and pretend to be a rain cloud....lol...

Now that you have done all the "dirty" work, you get to plant in it! That way no one thinks you just go around digging big muddy holes in your yard (and if you do already, I don't want to know what you are doing with them! =>)! Most sources say the best bets to use are the native plants in your area, since they are the most capable of dealing with the alternating flood and drought that your rain garden will receive. I have included links below to a couple sites that provide PDFs lists with typical CA (and some non-CA) plants. Once your rain garden is planted, and as it matures, it will help collect the rain water that we incur as runoff and sink it naturally into our watersheds instead.

I hope that all states, like Michigan (who wants to install 10K rain gardens within their state), will look to these simple landscaping additions as an example of a way to slow or stop the urban (and suburban) runoff that is helping to pollute our watersheds. For now, we can start the process by starting in our own backyards, and be an example.

Rain Garden Design Templates - designed specifically for a tract housing area, but it gives you an ideas of the breadth of designs available

Rain Garden PDF - from Alabama Cooperative Extension Services, but still relevant and a downloadable PDF

Rain Gardens - from the Sacramento County Stormwater Quality Program; very easy read, and good basic info

Garden Tomato Bread

Ripe, juicy tomatoes, along with parsley, sage, thyme, and garlic, give this artisan-style bread fresh garden flavor.

Notes: Biga is a yeast-based starter for which a portion of the dough is mixed first and allowed to ferment, giving the finished loaf some of the characteristics of bread made with a sourdough starter. Mix biga 1 day before baking bread. It's important to use ripe, juicy tomatoes in this bread.

Yield

Makes 2 loaves, 1 3/4 pounds each

Ingredients

3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes
Biga (recipe below), at room temperature
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage leaves
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
3 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
About 3 1/2 cups bread flour
3 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
About 1/4 cup cornmeal

Preparation

1. In the bowl of a standing mixer or another large bowl, sprinkle yeast over 1/4 cup warm (100° to 110°) water. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, rinse and core tomatoes; cut each in half crosswise. Squeeze juice and seeds into a bowl; cut tomatoes into 1/2-inch chunks. You need 1/4 cup juice with seeds (if you have less than 1/4 cup, add water to make up the difference; if you have more, discard extra) and 3 1/2 cups tomato chunks.

3. Add biga, tomatoes and juice, tomato paste, parsley, sage, garlic, thyme, pepper, whole-wheat flour, 2 cups bread flour, and salt to yeast mixture. Beat with paddle attachment on low speed, or stir with a heavy spoon, until well blended. Gradually beat or stir in 1 1/2 more cups bread flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until mixture forms a soft dough.

4. Switch to a dough hook and beat on medium speed until dough is smooth and elastic and pulls cleanly from sides of bowl but is still slightly sticky, 6 to 8 minutes; or scrape dough onto a lightly floured board and knead by hand until smooth and elastic but still slightly sticky, 7 to 10 minutes. Add pumpkin and sunflower seeds and beat in with dough hook or knead in by hand just until incorporated (after mixing in by hand, place dough in a bowl).

5. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; let dough rise at room temperature until doubled, 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Punch down with your hand to expel air.

6. Re-cover dough with plastic wrap and let rise again until doubled, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Or for a slow rise, chill at least 8 and up to 12 hours; let come to room temperature, about 3 hours.

7. Scrape dough onto a well-floured board and knead briefly to expel air. Divide in half. With lightly floured hands, gather each half into a ball, then stretch and tuck edges under to shape into a smooth round ball. Place loaves on a well-floured surface, dust lightly with flour, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise at room temperature until they're slightly puffy and hold the imprint of a finger when lightly pressed, about 1 1/2 hours.

8. Sprinkle a 13- by 17-inch baking sheet generously with cornmeal. Transfer loaves, one at a time, to sheet, spacing 2 to 3 inches apart. With a sharp knife, slash a 1-inch-deep X on top of each loaf. Place sheet on rack in lower third of a 450° regular or convection oven.

Or, if using a baking stone, gently slide edge of cornmeal-covered baking sheet under one loaf and lift it onto end of sheet. Slash as directed above, then gently slide loaf onto one side of stone in oven, leaving room for second loaf. Repeat to slash and transfer second loaf.

Spray 3 to 4 squirts of water on floor or sides of oven, taking care not to spray near heating element or light bulb, then quickly close door.

9. Bake bread, spraying twice more at 5-minute intervals during the first 10 minutes of baking, until crust is well browned, 35 to 45 minutes total.

10. Transfer loaves to a rack to cool for at least 1 hour. Store in paper bags at room temperature up to 2 days. To re-crisp the crust, place loaves directly on a rack in a 400° oven and bake for about 5 minutes.

Biga: In a bowl, sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast over 1/4 cup warm (100° to 110°) water. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup cold water. With a wood spoon, stir in 1 1/2 cups bread flour until mixture forms a soft dough. Cover with plastic wrap and chill 12 to 24 hours. Let come to room temperature before using, about 1 hour.

Shortcut: Without the biga, our recipes still produce great loaves. In the basic recipe, just increase the yeast by 1 1/4 teaspoons, the bread flour by 1 1/2 cups, and the water by 3/4 cup.

Sunset, NOVEMBER 2001

I thought this was a wonderful idea when I heard of it, and even thought of starting one in Ojai/Oak View if there wasn't already one, so I wanted to let y'all know that this group is out there and working!

Next exchange will be September 13th, 12 noon at 9572 El Cajon Street
Hope to see you there ! Any small canning jars would be appreciated.
The following exchange will be on September 27th."

I will be starting to update articles on our website, as well as the list of plant varieties we have, as we go here. Make sure to check back and see what's new! Also we added a Recommended Links page, so check it out as well!

If there are any questions or subjects you would like us to cover, please email us at amity@sproutinguporganically.com and then look for them in future newsletters!

Sprouting Up in Your Garden

Garden Tomato Bread

Yield

Ingredients

Preparation