Posts Tagged: meal
Beets in Your Garden.
By Donna Woodward, UC Master Gardener of Napa County Few vegetables can boast the versatility of...
Beets. (healthline.com)
Beet variety. (johnnyseeds.com)
Beet tops vs Swiss chard--looks alike, and cooks alike. (thepersianfusion.com)
Boro beet, one of our test beets. (harrisseeds.com)
Lutz Green leaf beet. (oscseeds.com)
Detroit Dark red beet. (parkseed.com)
Thin seedlings and put thinnings in salad! (gardeners.com)
Protect young beets with row cover. (wimastergardener.org)
Bone meal may help beets grow better. Not recommending any particular vendor--just illustrating Bone meal. (missionhillsnursery.com)
Beets! (masterofhort.com)
Countdown to a Food-Safe Thanksgiving
Streamline your preparations by following this schedule to ensure a food-safe holiday.
Saturday, November 3rd: Plan your menu and make your grocery list. Divide the list into two categories: perishable and non-perishable foods. Get an oven-safe food thermometer (if you don't already have one). Using it is the only way to ensure that meat is fully cooked.
Saturday, November 10th: Shop for non-perishable food items, such as canned soups and broth, baking supplies, and seasonings such as spices and dried herbs. Getting a frozen turkey? Buy it now and put it in your home freezer.
Saturday, November 17th: Shop for all your perishable food items, except for a fresh turkey (if that is your bird of choice). Use the Foodkeeper app to find out the best way to store your groceries until you need them.
Wednesday, November 14th: Is your frozen turkey 20-24 pounds? Put the bird in the fridge today so it will be safely thawed and ready to roast on Thanksgiving. If it weighs less than 20 pounds, use this Safe Thawing guide to find out when your turkey should go from the freezer into the fridge to start thawing.
Monday, November 19th: You can start making side dishes today. Store them in the refrigerator, and they will still be good on Thanksgiving Day.
Tuesday, November 20th: Today is the day to purchase that fresh turkey. Store it in a dish on the lowest shelf of your refrigerator so the fresh juices don't drip on other foods. USDA does not recommend buying a pre-stuffed turkey.
Wednesday, November 21st: If you haven't defrosted your turkey, use the cold water thawing method to ensure it's thawed for Thanksgiving. It is safe to cook a turkey from the frozen state, but it will take at least 50 percent longer than for a fully thawed turkey.
Planning to stuff your turkey? DON'T mix the stuffing ingredients or stuff your turkey tonight. It's ok to prepare the wet and dry stuffing ingredients ahead of time, but refrigerate them separately. Be safe by waiting to mix all ingredients on Thanksgiving Day just before you put the turkey in the oven.
Thanksgiving Day! Thursday, November 22nd: Use your food thermometer to be certain the turkey is completely done. You can't tell just by the color. Your bird is not safe until it reaches 165° F. Check the temperature in three places: the thickest part of the breast, the innermost part of the wing, and the innermost part of the thigh. Check the temperature of the stuffing, too!
Don't let leftovers linger on the table. Place all perishable food in shallow storage containers and put them in the refrigerator within 2 hours of cooking to prevent harmful bacteria from multiplying.
Monday, November 26th: Today is the last day to eat those leftovers or put them in the freezer.
Adapted from: The Food-Safe Path to Thanksgiving and Beyond by Marianne Gravely, USDA, Nov 03, 2016.
No-Cost Meals and Exercise for the Summer
Image Source: http://bit.ly/2tO4myQ For some kids, the only healthy meal they consume is a...
Changes to Soil Following Application of Mustard Seed Meal and Crab Meal
Below is a look at what happens to a soil following application of mustard seed meal (MSM) at 1.5 T per acre and mustard seed meal (again 1.5 T per acre) + crab meal (500# per acre) as separate treatments two weeks after fumigation with Ally 33 (67% AITC, 33% chloropicrin applied at 340# per acre on Oct 7).
Grower standard was methyl bromide/chloropicrin applied at 350# per acre. Planting took place Nov 3.
A soil sample taken on Nov 7 did not show differences in soil aspects analyzed between any of the treatments, although ammonium - N concentrations were surprisingly high (30 ppm and up) and nitrate - N numbers tended to be quite low (6 ppm and below).
Remarkably, look what has happened in the 4 weeks since that sample. Bear in mind that the grower has since sprinkled overhead several times and we had a good amount of rain as well. Commenting continues below the tables.
Unless otherwise indicated, units are in ppm of dry soil.
Table 1A. Soil analysis from December 7, 2016
Sample |
pH |
EC (dS/m) |
Nitrate – N |
Ammonium – N |
Methyl bromide grower standard |
7.4 |
0.9 |
11.3 |
4.7 |
Mustard Seed Meal |
7.1 |
1.7* |
34* |
20* |
Mustard Seed Meal + Crab Meal |
7* |
1.8* |
32* |
12* |
*Student's T-Test; different from grower standard at 5% level of significance.
Table 1B. Soil analysis from December 7, 2016
Sample |
(P) |
(K) |
(Ca) |
(SO4) |
(Mg) |
(Mn) |
Fe |
Na in meq/L |
Cl in meq/L |
Methyl bromide grower standard |
51 |
148 |
3100 |
278 |
178 |
8.9 |
18 |
1.9 |
3.2 |
Mustard Seed Meal |
54 |
190* |
2933 |
318 |
193 |
19.2* |
16 |
1.5 |
1.9 |
Mustard Seed Meal + Crab Meal |
60 |
185* |
3100 |
589 |
150 |
20.1* |
16 |
1.5 |
1.9 |
*Student's T-Test, different from grower standard at 5% level of significance.
One sees immediately that the pH has fallen, even significantly, in plots treated with mustard seed meal and mustard seed meal + crab meal. This is not surprising, since in the month's time since the initial sample on Nov 7, the ammonium has clearly nitrified (releasing 2 H+ ions per molecule, in turn acidifying the soil) creating a big pool of nitrates which have gone up significantly over the grower standard.
EC has gone up a bit due to the higher nitrates (NOT because of sodium or chloride), and interestingly levels of manganese (Mn) a mineral sensitive to acidification apparently, have soared in both MSM treated plots. Levels of available potassium (K) have gone up significantly also in MSM treated plots.
Quite interesting on the whole. By the way, a soil report like this makes for pretty good reading, and outside of the EC which is for the time being a little high in the MSM plots, all the other numbers are right where I like to see them.
Stay tuned on this one; we are following all of this trial through the season.
Dealing with Pantry Pests
[From the July 2015 issue of the UC IPM Retail Nursery and Garden Center IPM News] Pantry pests...