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Tuesday, March 17, 2020

March 17, 2020 shamrocks and vegetables


Hi Gardeners


What a difference a week can make!  Things have gone crazy it seems. Maybe one good thing about this pandemic is that more people will have time for gardening and reading about gardening. I am getting very annoyed when I hear someone urging people to stay indoors. There is no reason people can’t be outside, in their own yard, or walking in the neighborhood or park. If you stop to talk with others don’t shake hands and stay 6 feet away, that’s all that needs to be done. Covid 19 does not blow in on the wind and is not circulating in the air unless someone is sneezing or coughing near you.

If you have been sent home from work get out there and garden. It’s fine to be outside, you don’t need to hunker in the house. Being out in the sun and fresh air helps dispel depression, the smell of soil is known to ease depression symptoms. Get the kids out there too. Let the kids play in the yard, just discourage the whole neighborhood from playing in your yard. If you don’t have a yard take your kids and dogs someplace they can play, just avoid crowded playgrounds.

When the garden work is done, just take a long walk, or even sit in the sun. Everything looks better after a day outside and some work that leaves you tired but happy. The sun is going to shine, there will be spring thunderstorms, flowers will be popping out of the ground, birds will be singing. Life will go on, and it’s important to get outside and acknowledge that.

I’ve been outside most days in the past week doing bits and pieces of garden clean up. I’m still wrestling with wisteria vines. The earliest crocus are just starting to bloom. The buds on the trees are swelling. Temperatures have been up and down but 45 degrees in bright sunlight feels just fine for working.

Spring by the calendar arrives Friday. In you are in zone 6 or lower don’t get carried away by the mild weather. Only a very few things can be planted directly in the ground now, dormant trees and shrubs, grass seed, peas are examples. While the days can be mild, the nights are still going below freezing fairly often. It’s only mid-March after all. We could still get a snowstorm. You gardeners in zone 7 and above may be able to proceed with planting cool season crops, but tender crops could still be in danger. 

I don’t know how this virus will affect the greenhouse/nursery season. My favorite nursery opened this weekend for business. I have been known to go to a greenhouse on a cold dreary spring day just to soak in the smell of growing things and see the cheerful blooms. I probably will put off a trip for a few weeks – it’s too early for planting outside anyway. But unless they close, I expect to visit my local nursery. If they have to limit the number of people inside at a time, that’s fine with me.

I don’t think the virus will inhibit traditional farming very much. At this point it looks like farmers may get an early start, which is very good news for them. Food is still going to be produced. But if you are thinking about producing some of your own food this year, this blog issue may interest you.  I’m giving advice on beginning a vegetable garden.

I used to do spring vegetable gardening classes for the community for a low fee every year at Extension. I had the thought, wow this would be a great year for me to hold a food growing class in a hall somewhere but then the reality of the quarantine sunk in. Guess I won’t. But I can write about it.

And if you are thinking about adding chickens to your yards for eggs and meat, I have written a book for that – Raising Chickens for Dummies. If I do say so myself it’s an excellent guide for beginning chicken keepers covering all aspects of chicken keeping, including how to butcher your own meat birds. It’s in its third edition now and has been the top selling animal husbandry book from time to time. If you are feeling very interested in self sufficiency buy the book, it’s available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Raising-Chickens-Dummies-Kimberley-Willis/dp/0470465441



Shamrock shenanigans

Today is St. Patrick’s Day and shamrocks will be everywhere. But what exactly is a shamrock? Well they are that little leaf from a plant some people call clover. True shamrocks usually have 3 leaflets, although they are sometimes portrayed with 4 leaflets.

But what plant family do true shamrocks belong to? In the late 1800’s a debate raged among botanists in Europe and America over this very important question. Some believed firmly that shamrocks were wood sorrel or Oxalis and others that they were of the clover or Trifolium family.  Both plants grow well in Ireland. 

A clever botanist by the name of Nathaniel Colgan carried out a survey in 1893 by asking residents of Ireland to send him pressed samples of the plant they considered a shamrock. The survey found that the Irish overwhelmingly chose a clover, either Trifolium dubium (Lesser or Hops clover) or Trifolium repens (White Clover) although a few wood sorrel leaves arrived also.


But for most people the shamrock they are going to see around St. Patrick’s Day, especially in stores, is usually an oxalis. Oxalis are small plants, with a bulbous root. The leaves have 3-4 leaflets, sometimes heart shaped. Most oxalis have small, 5 petal flowers that open flat in the spring, although some species have funnel shaped flowers. Oxalis or wood sorrel species are common throughout most of the world.

The species sold as “shamrocks” are usually tender perennials and won’t survive outside in a cold winter. Keep them in a bright window and keep them moist but not over watered to the soggy point. A light fertilization once a month with a fertilizer for flowering plants will keep oxalis blooming for long periods of time, although they will take occasional breaks from blooming. Well cared for plants will become larger and live for several years. The tender Oxalis can make great container plants outside during the frost-free months.

There are also a few types of oxalis that can be planted outside. When looking for oxalis to plant outside look in bulb catalogs. They may be called wood sorrel, a common name. The bulbs are quite inexpensive for most species

An oxalis that was a fad just a year or two ago is the Candy cane oxalis, Oxalis versicolor. It has funnel shaped flowers, striped in red and white. The pictures in catalogs make the plant look impressive, but actually the plants and flowers are very small. They are hardy from zones 7-9.  It will grow in sun or partial shade and is best seen in a rock garden setting or in a pot. It should be planted in the fall.

Shamrock legends and customs

Nobody really knows if St. Patrick used a clover or shamrock to teach about the holy trinity or whether he used shamrocks to drive out snakes or whether he even wore shamrocks on his blue, (yes blue) monks robe as is so often depicted in pictures. But somehow the shamrock got associated with him and with Ireland in general.

In Irish culture true shamrocks are worn in the labels of coats or on the hat on St Paddy’s Day through the drinking and parades. Then they are put into the last drink of the day, there is a toast, the drink is downed, and the shamrock thrown over the left shoulder for luck. This is called drowning the shamrock.

Since 1952 it has been a tradition for the Irish Prime minister to present the President of the United States with a bowl of shamrocks in a fancy Waterford crystal bowl on St. Patrick’s Day. (It’s unclear whether that custom will be performed this year.) Unfortunately, security protocol demands that the shamrocks immediately be destroyed after the ceremony and photo taking. The crystal bowls have various fates- President Reagan used one for jellybeans.

The shamrock also appears on Montreal, Canada’s flag as a symbol of one of the four major ethic groups which made up the city’s population when it was founded. It’s hard to think of Montreal as being part Irish, but it’s nice that all immigrants were honored. Almost everywhere the shamrock is seen as a symbol of good luck.

The lucky 4-leaf clover

The “lucky” clover leaf with 4 leaflets instead of 3 is a rather common mutation in clovers and it can be inherited. In fact, there are varieties of white clover that have been developed that will have a high proportion of leaves with 4 or more leaflets. These are grown to make those lucky charms with a real 4 leafed clover inside. There is a purple leaved variety, T. repens 'Purpurascens Quadrifolium' and a green-leaved variety called T. repens 'Quadrifolium'.

If you ever need to keep a bunch of kids occupied for a while tell them a 4-leaf clover is good luck and send them to look for one on the nearest patch of ground. If there is any clover nearby- either white or red clover- they may actually find one, although the odds are about 1 in 10,000 leaves. Some adults search diligently for four leaved clovers too, and some make a hobby of collecting them.

The largest collection of 4 leaf clovers as of 2007 was that of Edward Martin Sr. from Cooper Landing, Alaska, with 111,060 four-leaf clovers. Clover can also have more than 4 leaflets. The largest number of leaflets ever found on a clover leaf was 56.

So Happy St. Patrick’s Day and lots of luck this year.


Starting a vegetable garden

I am hearing many people saying they are going to grow their own food this year. Some are almost frantic when asking for advice. They are worried about the Covid19 virus disrupting the food supply. I always encourage people to grow some of their own food, but I don’t think people should panic and think the world as they know it is ending. It’s not. Food is going to be produced this year by farmers everywhere. But it is nice to know how to grow your own food.


I don’t believe there will be a shortage of food, although there may be a shortage of some types of food. Food that must be harvested by hand such as the early strawberries, may be subject to shortages because there isn’t labor to pick and pack them. Foods brought in from other countries, such as bananas may be short for a while. We really don’t know yet. But things like wheat, oats, corn, and potatoes will be grown and available. I don’t think there will be much disruption in meat or dairy production either.  When people stop hoarding stores will be selling these as usual.


When asked what crop I would grow that would give the most food for the space used, I would have to say potatoes. My grandfather used to say he fed the neighborhood, (which was just a few families) one year during the depression with an acre of potatoes. So, if you are worried about quantity of food, grow potatoes. They are fairly easy to grow and are easy to store. But I suggest you grow a variety of foods you like and learn to can and freeze the excess.

Most home gardeners with just a small lot are not going to be able to grow their entire food supply, regardless of what some cheerful articles want you to believe. (Maybe if you can exist on zucchini and kale.) You aren’t going to be able to grow enough wheat for bread or grow rice. You can grow some of your fresh food however, and maybe a little extra for canning or freezing.

If you don’t have your own bit of land or it’s too shady to garden, maybe you can commander a plot of unused city land and grow a guerilla garden. Many communities have communal garden areas where you can grow food also. People in apartments may want to ask where those areas are. Whatever you manage to grow will be good eating.

Here are the very basics of starting a vegetable garden if you are new to gardening. If you want to know more about growing a specific crop there are many articles to the right of this blog that you can click on. The list is alphabetic.

The site

For starting vegetable gardens, you need a place that gets at least six hours of full sun each day, the more sun, the better. The site should be close to water and to the house. A vegetable garden close to the house receives better care, is harvested more frequently and is less likely to suffer animal damage. And you may want to see if the spot you want to grow vegetables in has any restrictions on it’s use. In some neighborhoods for example, you cannot have a vegetable garden in the front yard.

Don’t choose a low spot or one that doesn’t drain well for a vegetable garden. Low spots collect cold air which gives a shorter season and most vegetables will not grow in wet areas. If a wet, poorly drained area is all you have you can make raised beds. Do not site food crops close to well heads or over septic fields.

When starting a vegetable garden for the first time think small. A vegetable garden that is twenty by thirty is a good start for a family of four. Big gardens may overwhelm beginners and you can always expand next year. Even this year with all the panic don’t make a garden bigger than you can handle.

If there are deer in your area, you’ll probably need to fence the garden to get a good harvest. It has to be a high fence; 8 feet is good. To save money deer fencing can be plastic netting attached to poles. Netting won’t keep out other pests like groundhogs and rabbits though. You’ll need wire fence for that. Three feet of wire fence topped with 5 or 6 feet of net fence can help stop all pests.

The soil

Choose your area and then get a soil test. A soil test gives you an idea of what your vegetable garden will need for optimum plant growth. Submit the soil sample at least six weeks before you want to begin planting. This gives you time to get the results back and amend the soil if needed.  

Contact your County Extension office, they will explain how to collect the soil sample, where to send it, and when the results come back, they can help you interpret them. The service costs a small amount. Don’t add anything to the soil, such as lime, until you have had a soil test. Most gardens do not need lime. Compost is an exception, it’s fine to add compost as you wait for results.

Don’t worry too much about the type of soil you have. Both clay and sandy soil can be turned into good vegetable gardens. The key to improving both types of soil is to add lots of organic material. Your soil test will tell you if you need to add lime or fertilizer.

Tools and supplies

You will need a good spade (shovel), a garden rake and a hoe. You will need a hose and nozzles or watering cans for a small garden. Get a good pair of gloves, your seeds and plants, and you are ready to start. Tillers are not necessary. Some other things nice to have are stakes and string, mulch, and row covers. Your soil test may reveal that you need to amend the soil or fertilize. For small gardens these supplies are not very expensive.

All those colorful pictures of yummy vegetables can make you spend much more on seeds than you need to. Read the back to see what size row the package will plant. There’s a chart below this article that will give you an idea of how much to plant for each person. Don’t order six types of bean seeds if you only have room for one row of beans. It seems obvious, but only buy vegetables that your family likes to eat.

Should you go organic?

Part of the value of starting vegetable gardens at home instead of purchasing produce is so that you can control what is put on the vegetables you eat. Home gardeners should strive to use the least amount of pesticides possible. There are many ways to deal with problems other than using pesticides. 

Some people also choose to buy organic seeds and use only organic fertilizers. Both are slightly more expensive than conventional seed and fertilizer. You can have safe healthy vegetables while using non-organic seeds and fertilizers, just don’t use pesticides.  

There’s one thing to consider here. If food production is going to be vital to your survival you may want to use chemical pest controls if a serious problem occurs that might wipe out your crop. When chemical pest controls are used according to label directions and produce is washed before eating there is little to worry about. If it’s washing produce or your family suffering from not enough to eat, chose washing produce.

Choosing a method

When starting vegetable gardens, you can choose to lay out traditional rows in the soil, you can form mounded rows, or you can build raised beds. If your soil drains poorly, mounded or raised beds will work best. Mounded rows simply take soil from the paths and pile it on the rows.  Raised beds can be built from many materials to hold soil. If you have very little soil over a rock layer in your yard this may be the best way to garden. Raised beds allow you to concentrate your soil amendments and water in the actual planting area. 

Straw bale gardening is not a good way to produce a lot of food. It’s mostly a gimmick or a last-ditch effort to grow anything on very poor or contaminated soil. Don’t chose it if you have other ways to garden. If you want to read more about it try the link below.

In the beginning

Starting vegetable gardens where there is grass can be hard. If you can start the fall before it’s easier. But whether in fall or spring here is how to proceed. Remove sod by cutting underneath it then lifting off pieces. Put the pieces on your compost pile. Then proceed to prepare the soil for your garden.

This is vitally important. The soil must be ready for you to work it before you start. Pick up a handful of soil and make a fist. If the soil stays clumped in your hand when you open it, it is too wet to work. Your soil may take longer than the guy across the streets soil to become ready to work in the spring. If you work the ground when it is too wet, you compact the soil and destroy soil structure and your garden will suffer.

If you are going to plant directly in the ground tilling garden soil is no longer recommended as a regular yearly practice. But the first year a garden is made one tilling or spading up the area will be fine. You can rent a tiller or hire someone to do it. Then rake out stones and sticks and smooth the area.

If you are making mounded beds simply pull soil with a rake or shovel from where your paths will be to where your beds are. You may want to measure and lay out the rows with stakes and string. If you are building raised beds make sure to measure and plan before you start. It’s harder to correct mistakes with raised beds. You can use soil from the path areas to help fill beds, but you may also need a load of compost or good garden soil delivered to fill raised beds.

Raised beds can be built to fit almost any space and they are the solution to growing crops when the soil is really poor or contaminated. They should be a minimum of 8 inches deep, but they could be as high as 3 feet which might allow you to sit on the edge to garden.

While older treated lumber was considered toxic, many experts feel that modern treated lumber is fine to use for raised beds. If you worry about chemicals seeping from the wood, you can line the boxes with plastic or just use untreated pine or cedar lumber at least an inch thick. There are now plastic wood planks, which while expensive, are safe. You can also buy raised beds made of plastic.

Make the raised beds only as wide as your arms can reach across to weed and harvest. That’s about 2 feet if accessible from one side, 4 feet if you can access both sides. Raised beds can be used for all types of plants.

Inside the raised beds should be soil that’s loose, light and enriched with compost and other organic material. Instead of making rows within raised beds you plant your seeds or transplants as far apart as suggested on the seed packet or tag instructions throughout the whole bed. For example, if the seed packet says plants should be 6 inches apart in the row, plant the bed with all plants 6 inches away from each other, solidly throughout the bed.

Make sure the paths between raised beds are wide enough that you can get a wheelbarrow and/or mower down them. Paths can be mulched or just kept mown very short.



Planting

Ask your county Extension office or an experienced gardener when the last frost in your area normally occurs. Cool weather crops can go out a few weeks before the last frost, if the soil is ready to work. Warm weather crops must be planted after the last frost.

Cool weather crops include peas, lettuce, cabbage, kale, radishes, beets, and potatoes. Carrots, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and onions can be planted next, around the last frost. Tomatoes, beans, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins and sweet corn should be planted after the last frost and when the soil is warm.

These crops are better started inside and transplanted into the garden- tomatoes, peppers, celery, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower. These crops can be started inside but could also be planted directly in the garden- melons, cucumbers, pumpkins, squash, head lettuce. If started inside or purchased, they should still be small to avoid transplant shock. You can often buy started plants at a good garden shop or even the big box stores in spring.

These crops are better planted from seeds planted directly in the ground- leaf and romaine lettuce, kale, peas, beans, sweet corn, popcorn, carrots, beets, turnips. You’ll see them being sold as plants in stores and some people start them inside, but research has shown that these crops planted in the ground at the correct soil temperature actually do better than transplants. 

Potatoes are planted as cut up pieces each with a sprout, or as whole small potatoes. You should buy certified seed potatoes for planting to help prevent disease. They are planted around the time of the last predicted frost for your area, maybe a week or two earlier than that date. A little cool weather doesn’t hurt them, but a hard freeze will.

Onions are a special case. There are many ways to plant them. The easiest way is to plant sets. These are small onion bulbs. The onions grown from them are generally small to medium sized cooking type onions or they are great for producing “green” onions. Shallots and garlic are also planted from bulbs.

Onions of larger sweet or cooking varieties are often sold in bunches of small plants. These can be shipped without soil. Onions can also be planted from seed directly in the garden or started inside in flats.

Buy plants if you want asparagus, rhubarb or strawberries. They can be started from seed, but it will take several years to get a crop.

Follow the directions on the seed packet or consult a good vegetable garden reference for how deep to plant seeds directly in the garden and how to space plants in the rows.

Chart of how many vegetable/fruits to grow per family member. 

Fresh use assumes the person likes the crop but doesn’t want to can or freeze extras. It’s also based on a normal crop for the type of produce. It’s based on an adult appetite.  Depending on the age and appetite of children, two or three children might consume one adult portion. If a family member doesn’t eat much fresh produce adjust amounts accordingly. If your family eats lots of a certain product, like sweet corn, adjust accordingly. Preserving use is based on the amount needed for canning, pickling or freezing supplies for one person through the off season. 

All of these plant numbers are based on averages. Some figures are given by row length, which means plants are spaced along the row in the usual suggested spacing for the plant species. The numbers are for one adult person and are just a guideline. In some cases, 1 plant may be enough for several individuals, or for fresh and preserving use for one person. Plants are assumed to be mature.

Add fresh and preserving numbers together if you want both uses. If your garden is the sole source of food for your family, you may want to increase the amounts grown.



Number of plants or feet of row per person. For fruit trees, one tree will feed more than one person, 2 full size trees may be enough for a family of four or more.

                                FRESH USE                        PRESERVING

Asparagus                  6 plants                             12 plants
Apples                       1 standard or semi-dwarf tree for both uses,
Apricots                     1 standard or semi-dwarf tree for both uses,
Beans, green use         6 feet                               6 feet
Beans dry use                     ------                         12 feet per variety
Beets                         6 feet                                  6 feet
Blackberries                1                                       1
Blueberries                 1 full size plant                 1 full size (2 dwarf)
Broccoli                      6                                        10
Brussels sprouts          6                                        10
Cabbage                    4 full size heads                  6 full size heads
Cauliflower                 10                                      2 0
Carrots                      10 feet row                          10 feet row
Celery                       2                                           2
Cherries                     1 standard or semi-dwarf tree, for both uses,
Collard greens             6 feet row                             --------
Corn sweet                 10 feet row                          20 feet row
Corn popcorn                      -------                          20 feet row
Cucumbers                 1                                          3
Eggplant                    1                                          1
Garlic                         3                                         3
Grapes                       1 plant                                 2
Greens, other             6 feet row                            -----
Kale                           6 feet row                            -----
Kohl Rabi                  6                                          -----
Lettuce, leaf, loose     3 feet row                           -----
Lettuce head               6                                         -----
Melons                       1 per variety                       -----
Okra                           2                                       2
Onions                       10 feet row                      10 feet row
Peaches                     1 standard or semi-dwarf tree for both uses,                   
Pears                         1 standard or semi-dwarf tree for both uses,
Peas                          4 feet row                         10 feet row
Peppers                     1 per type                         1 per type
Pumpkin                    ------                                1
Potatoes                    20 feet row                       20 feet row
Radish                       3 feet row                         -----
Raspberries                2                                     4
Rhubarb                     1                                       -----
Strawberries               10                                    25
Sweet potatoes           6                                      6
Squash summer          1                                      1
Squash winter             1                                      2
Tomatoes                    1                                      2
Turnips, parsnips,        6 feet row                      6 feet row

Here’s an example of a garden for 2 adults and 2 small children who we are going to assume eat as much as one adult. The family wants to can and store some food but is not expecting to grow all their food.  They are growing only foods they like to eat. Their garden might look like this; 9 tomato plants, 6 pepper plants, 6 summer squash plants, 36 feet of “green” beans, 9 feet of leaf lettuce, 9 cucumber plants, 60 feet of carrots,(spaced 6 inches apart that’s 3, 10 feet rows), 48 broccoli plants, 60 feet ( 5, 12 feet long rows) of sweet corn and about 100 strawberry plants (maybe a bed 25 feet long by 4 feet wide).

Preparing Potatoes for planting

Potatoes are a crop that can be planted early. They can be planted when the soil temperature reaches 45 degrees F.  which is usually 3-4 weeks before your average last frost in spring. The best way to start them is from seed potatoes, which you can order from a number of companies. These are certified disease free. You can, however, start potato plants from grocery potatoes if you have no other source.

Potatoes can be left whole if they are small, but most potatoes should be cut into several pieces, each piece must have an “eye”.  An eye is the depressed area on a potato skin, often sprouts have started to grow from the spot. It is normal for seed potatoes to look slightly shriveled and to have green areas on the skin. Let cut pieces sit for several days for a “skin” to form over the cut surface before planting, even if the piece has a large sprout.

For best results potato pieces or small whole potatoes, often called seed potatoes, should be starting to sprout when planted. If your seed potatoes have small shoots, they are ready to plant. Some grocery store potatoes will have been treated to inhibit sprouting. Sometimes just washing the potatoes and sitting them in a sunny windowsill will start growth.

If the potatoes show no signs of sprouting after a few days, try putting them in a brown paper bag with an apple or two. Place the bag in a warm spot, over 70 degrees F. The apples give off ethylene, which promotes sprouting.  Don’t use plastic bags or mold may begin to grow. Once you have small sprouts the potatoes are good to plant.

Potatoes with large sprouts are okay to plant but it’s better not to let the sprouts get too large before you plant. Lightly cover the sprouts with soil so they don’t get damaged by colder nights. They will grow through the soil.
For more about growing potatoes see this article.



Make your own bread

Bread is one of those things most people take for granted.  Almost any store from the corner gas station to big box stores carry bread.  But homemade bread, fresh from the oven is no longer found in many homes and that’s a shame. There is nothing like a slice of still warm bread with butter melting on it.  And if its bread you baked the house will have that yummy yeast bread baking aroma as a bonus.

Bread is made from very simple ingredients. But like many things it can take some practice to learn to make bread in a way that pleases you and others.  Your less than perfect loaves will probably be edible and even if they are not, bread ingredients are fairly cheap. You can use a bread machine of course, and that’s better than frozen bread dough and much better than store bought bread but still, true artisan bread made at home from scratch beats them all.

A bread recipe for white bread will be given below.  But bread recipes often need to be adjusted a bit to allow for slight differences in temperature, moisture in the air, and many other factors. If your first try at making bread isn’t perfect, don’t give up. Keep trying and adjusting the recipe and eventually you will become the bread artist.

Yeast is one of the most important factors in good bread making.  Until you know you will be baking bread frequently, buy your yeast in the little foil single use packets. Store them in the refrigerator and don’t open the packet until you are ready to use it. These packets have an expiration date- check it before you buy it and don’t use yeast after the expiration date for best results.

Once you have perfected the art of making one or two loaves of bread at a time, you can experiment with larger batches if you need to.  But remember homemade bread doesn’t contain preservatives and will get stale or mold quickly. Freeze it if it isn’t going to be eaten in 3 days.

Homemade bread does take a little time- what good things don’t? But most of the time involved is in the rising and you can be doing other things while that happens.  

Kneading dough

Kneading the dough is a skill that needs a little practice. If you have a dough hook on a mixer or food processor you can use that but the hands on method is great to know how to do. Turn your dough mix, which may still be sticky, out on a lightly floured surface and have some flour nearby. Lightly flour your clean hands and the dough surface. Put your palms down flat on the dough blob and push down. Pull the front of the dough toward you and fold it over the back. Push down with the palms of the hands, pull forward, fold over and keep repeating. 

There’s no exact method that has to be followed but you should be working the dough by folding and turning it on itself. If your hands get sticky do not wash them. Instead add flour to your hands. Small amounts of flour may need to be sprinkled on the dough ball from time to time and worked in.  You are trying to make a dough ball that is smooth and not sticky on the surface, while still being flexible and not too stiff.

Add flour a little at a time and work it in well before adding more. If you get too much you cannot add more liquid, but you can add small amounts of flour until sticky dough improves. After a little experience you’ll know when the dough has just the right feel. Never knead bread more than 15 minutes.

Rising the dough

For the first rising put your dough ball in a bowl or pan that has been sprayed with pan spray or greased. Turn the ball over once to grease the other side. Cover with a clean cloth. The bowl or pan should be at least twice the size of the dough ball because good dough should rise that much.

Bread needs to rise in a warm but not too hot place.  Air-conditioned homes or homes kept cool in winter may not be great places for bread to rise. Most homes won’t be too warm. If the temperature in the home is less than 70 degrees turn on the oven for a few minutes, just until it feels warm. You should be able to touch the racks without burning your hand. Then turn the oven off and put the bread dough in there to rise. Over 150 degrees F. will probably kill the yeast and prevent dough from rising.

The rising time will vary with dough, but it is usually around an hour. Test the dough by looking at it- has it doubled in size? Then lightly poke a finger into it. If the impression fills up in a few seconds it needs to rise more. If the impression stays, it’s ready. Don’t leave dough rising too long or it will “fall”.  You can try dividing it and letting it rise like below, but it may not recover.

If your yeast was bad or another problem occurred the dough may not rise at all or very much. If after 2 hours there isn’t any “life”, there probably isn’t going to be any. You can still bake this “bread” but it will be very dense and bland tasting.

If the dough has risen enough, punch it down. Turn it out on a floured board and just knead it a couple times.  Now divide it for the number of loaves the recipe makes. Shape the dough like a loaf. Place your dough loaves in the greased baking pans, cover with cloths and let them rise in a warm spot just like the first rising. It will take a little less time the second rising. Test as above and when the dough looks like it is doubled and ready, brush some melted butter on top and bake the bread.

                                               Basic White Bread Recipe
                                                       Yield: 2 loaves
      
       2-1/2 cups milk, room temperature, if you don’t have milk water can be used but milk tastes                 better.
       
       3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
     
       3 tablespoons sugar
       
       1 Tablespoon salt
       
       2 envelopes yeast (or 2 Tablespoons)
       
       1/4 cup water, lukewarm, water too hot kills yeast, it should feel barely warm
      
       7 + cups flour (each batch varies a bit) Using bread flour is great, but you can use regular flour.            Use unbleached flour, it’s healthier.

Put the warm water in a small bowl and add yeast and a pinch of sugar. Let sit 5 minutes. It should look a bit frothy after 5 minutes. Do not leave the yeast in water much longer than 5 minutes before its mixed with the other ingredients.

Mix the milk, 2 tablespoons melted butter, salt and sugar together in a large bowl.

Add the yeast and water to the larger bowl. Start stirring in the flour a cup at a time until it gets very stiff, then turn out on a floured board and knead in more flour until the dough is smooth and elastic. See kneading directions above.

Let the dough rise until doubled in a greased, covered bowl. Punch down.  Divide into two loaf shapes, place in greased loaf pans. See rising directions above.

Let the dough rise until doubled again. Brush loaf tops lightly with the rest of the melted butter. 

Bake at 400 degrees F about 30 minutes. Bread is done when top is light brown and sides pull away from pan. Turn bread out of pan carefully and let it cool on a rack or clean cloth for 15 minutes before slicing.

Unless you are very well self-disciplined and no one else is home, your bread will probably not make it through the 15 minutes of cooling time before someone slices it.  It will smash up a bit, but that’s ok, slather on butter and enjoy!


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-      
   -Lady Bird Johnson


Kim Willis
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