Arthur Street Gardens

07/25/2014

ASG's Raspberry-Black Currant Cordial Syrup

2 cups raspberries.
2 cups black currants.
1 1/2 cups of baker's sugar (caster's sugar in the UK: it's a fineness between that of powdered and granulated sugar).
2 cups water.
1 lemon.

Liquify the berries together in a blender (or cook down, if you have the patience).

Add water and sugar. Cook on medium-low until just before it comes to a simmer.

Strain mixture into a second pot, also on medium-low. Add in (strained) juice squeezed from one lemon.

(Note: old-school sez to add zest and lemon into mix before you strain. That's probably great, too!)

Bring just to simmer (but not rolling boil: prevent foam from forming on top), stirring frequently. Let simmer for 10-12 minutes.

Pour into stoppered lemonade containers (sterilized, of course).

Should keep for the summer -- or longer than you (or your friends and family) are going to let it keep.

Drink recipe:

1 1/2 oz. Vodka (or White Rum)
4 oz. soda water
1 tablespoon of raspberry-black currant cordial
Pour into a highball filled 1/3 with ice. Garnish with sprig of mint.

Enjoy!

How to make Raspberry - Black Currant Cordial Syrup

07/25/2014

How to make Raspberry - Black Currant Cordial Syrup

07/20/2014

Garlic harvest. Mixed results. German Red and Korean Red on left and right. Notice the absence of red? What's up with that?

This was first year planting garlic and a few thoughts on yield, if you have anything to add out there:

1) Planted in unamended soil - just pulled turf and planted garlic in the topsoil/clay of our front yard. Think I need to turn in some compost/peat moss/bone meal this year.

2) I didn't feed the garlic at all. Not even a spring top-dressing of compost. Apparently that's a no-no: they're heavy feeders.

3) I let bulbils develop on most of the scapes: apparently that's a no-no, too: reducing bulb size by a third (some of these, if 33% bigger, would be nice-looking garlic).

Anything else to try? How do you get your best garlic? I did harvest one of the German reds yesterday to use in rosemary and garlic roast potatoes and it does have a wonderful flavor when pulled fresh from the ground.

07/12/2014

Macro photo shoot in the gardens.

07/05/2014

2nd Year Pruning of Espaliered Apple Trees.

06/21/2014

Rhubarb and Strawberries make GREAT companion plants!

05/21/2014

This is bad news: http://www.inquisitr.com/1235774/michigan-loses-right-to-farm-this-week-a-farewell-to-backyard-chickens-and-beekeepers/

Bees are on our list here at ASG, and our neighbors have chickens. We all need to remember that it's constant positive energy in our communities and continuous influence and engagement with our neighbors and local politicians that will keep good practices for urban agriculture (which is just a way of saying: good urban culture) viable and supported.

Michigan residents lost their “right to farm” this week thanks to a new ruling by the Michigan Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development. Gail Philburn of

04/27/2014

So: you've been reading a lot about the disappearance of the Monarch Butterfly, and here are a few practical things to note about how you can help.

1) There are many native varieties of milkweed you can plant that will beautify your garden: we have 3 kinds here at ASG: Asclepius Tuberosa, a compact, orange-blossomed variety known as "Butterfly W**d;" Asclepius Incarnata, which we plant near our Joe-Pye W**d at the back of the garden and which sports large clusters of red/crimson blossoms (and is known as "swamp milkweed" -- we plant it at the bottom of a crest); Asclepius Syriaca -- or "Common Milkweed," which we invite in the random places it appears each year, a reminder of the milkweed we used to open at the edge of the school playground and watch float across the prairie.

2) Many milkweeds are hard to germinate, tap-rooted, and late-emerging. Your best bet is to pick them up at garden sale, plant them, let them self-sow where they will, and then manage their sporadic appearance (rather than trying to explicitly cultivate them "in a spot."

For more on Minnesota butterfly garden planting & design, refer to this U of MN Extension Bulletin: http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/landscaping/butterfly-gardening/

Butterfly gardening can be easy. It can be as simple as providing the appropriate variety of host plants for larval growth and adult feeding. Plants used in butterfly gardening include native plants as well as horticultural cultivars of annuals and perennials

04/10/2014

Beer present... And beer future.

04/09/2014

So... yeah: it's a commercial, for a commercial company. But you know what? It's still beautiful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaWA2GbcnJU

เคยสงสัยไหม? ชีวิตคนเราต้องการอะไรกันแน่ ทำไมบางคนมีเงินมากมาย...ก็ยังไม่มีความสุข คลิปนี้ ไม่ใช่คำตอบ แต่มันอาจเป็นจุดเริ่มต้นให้คุณทำบางสิ่ง... เพื่อค้นหาค...

04/08/2014

Even though it happens every year, I can never get enough of spring. Light out until 8:00 PM? Check. Air has ceased to attack my face? Check. But what's more: you get early signs of what worked, what didn't---what you can expect, and maybe what you need to work on this year.

Last year a focus here at ASG was on better companion planting/guild orientation. So, I'm walking around the garden here tonight, doing some "this-and-that," and stumbled upon two of my favorites: Comfrey and Garlic (which are planted between our espaliered apples) and Rhubarb and Strawberry ('cause -- what goes better together than those two?).

What do you plant together? What would you like to try or learn about guild planting?

04/05/2014

Or getting ready (if a little late, this year) to grow good?