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From: Rezan
Subject: frezing carrots
Dear organic gardeners,
I have been buying your organic vegetables from Costco and enjoying them very much. However, I do have a garden of my own and I just pulled out some carrots. Could you please tell me if I can slice them and put them in the freezer for later use in soups and stews or do I need to process them before freezing. I appreciate your response.
Thank you
Rezan
Hi Rezan;
You need to process them to keep them very long...here is how to do it. Wash the carrots very well...safety first...Then Cut the carrots in any shapes you like...diced, sliced, cubes, chunks...even grated (I love grated for soups...yummm..) bring water to a boil and add all of a shape ...only one shape at a time...and heat until the texture is as you like it...I prefer a sort of al'dante...not too soft...but cooked lightly through. There are blanching tables available in cookbooks like the Joy of Cooking, my favorite. Be sure to get a book about canning or freezing to make the most of your garden's bounty.The texture is up to you, cook until the carrot is not quite as cooked as you want to serve it, then when you cook them they will be perfect.( This process stabilizes the sugars and starches, and stops microbial activity) cool and freeze on a tray covered ...put them in a freezer bag after frozen, and use whenever. Repeat for each shape...they all will take different times to process according to the size of the cut.
When you cook them heat only until the carrot is just heated through or the carrot can be mushy and you loose vitamins. Try cooking them with butter, pickled ginger, and low salt soy sauce...until carmelized...add some cashews and yum-o-rama...
Let me know how this works for you...Kind Regards &
Blessings Always,
Margaret Ann Walser
Willow Wind Organic Farms
From: Ravi
Subject: A little Organic Farming help...
Dear Mr. Steve Walser and Mrs. Margaret Walser -
My name is Ravi Nayak - I am a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nepal and I am working with a small community in Thimi, Bhaktapur, Nepal that would like to start organic farming. I have just had an opportunity to go through your web site and I was wondering if you could help me out in anyway. I found your website very helpful in understanding how you grow organic vegetables and thought you might be able to help me out.
First of all, let me tell you that I have not farming background - I am a business extension worker here in Nepal - but I need help with how to teach people how to start and grow organic farms - from how to create the organic fertilizer and pesticide in mass quantities, what needs to be done in order to get the soil ready for the growing of organic vegetables, things that they should be aware of when growing organic vegetables, etc.. Just a little background on my area - Thimi, Bhaktapur - it is a primarily agricultural area located in the Kathmandu Valley, they provide vegetables for all of the Kathmandu Valley and for several bigger cities in Nepal.
Here in Nepal you are dealing with very, very rural people. The plot of land that most people have do not warrant the use of tractors or big machinery in order to manage. Most of the fields are managed by hand, plows are pulled by bulls and the water is brought in from the local river by pump. You also have the weather of Nepal that attributes to a great deal of what is grown - like the monsoon season that is from the months of June - September, where it rains a great deal for those four months. It is also rather hot and humid during that season - they usually grow rice during that time.
Here is an idea of some of the vegetables that are grown out here and when...and just so you know - winter (coldest it gets is 58 degrees) here is Nov - the first two weeks of Feb, Summer is last two weeks of Feb - May, Monsoon Season is - June - Sept; and October is the transition month between monsoon and winter - it is a mild month...
Carrots - All winter and summer; Cabbage - all winter and summer; cauliflower - all winter and summer; corriender - 2 months in winter and 1 month in summer; Onion and garlic - all winter and 1.5 months in summer
I am just looking for training manuals or information that I can use with these farmers on how to do organic farming on a large scale, general maintenance, etc..And then on the business aspect of things how you market and sell your products. Do you work with other organic farms in the states?
Thank you in advance for any help that you can provide!
If there is any help that you can give me at all I would greatly appreciate it - we are looking to start this program in the next month or so with about 30 farm households.
Ravi
Dear Ravi;
This is a great and complicated venture and we hope that we can help.
First ....We have an excellent associate, Radhakrishna Prabhu, I will forward this letter on to him. His expertise is in the area of vermi-compost. Fertilizer produced by adding certain worms to whatever other compost materials are available in your area. His work is very good and will help with your soil nutrition. He has worked with just your type of situation in India.
I would suggest that you start with a "green manure Crop" to naturally fumigate the soil before you plant your cash crops. Plant Canola, rye grass, sudan grass, or peas... something that will come up and make "green" fast... then plow it under well. This practice helps by sprouting and killing early weeds, adds organic material & nutrients to soil, and has a natural fumigant activity too.
What is your soil like? Is it sandy? Clay? Rich or poor in organic matter? What pests are common in your area and soils? With the answers to these questions we can help you alot more.
Please let us know, and we will do our best to get you going....Hope to hear from you soon.
Blessings Always,
Margaret Ann Walser
Willow Wind Organic Farms
