Forks in the Dirt

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Very Veggie Potato Leek Soup

December 1, 2021 / / 2 Comments

Soup Season is here and we couldn’t be more ready!

Leeks are a favorite late season crop that add so much depth of flavor to everything they touch, especially soup! We had a bumper crop this year so I’m excited to experiment with leeks this winter…

Straight up Potato Leek soup is divine, so I wasn’t sure if I should mess with it… but I did because I can’t help hiding extra veggies in all my meals.

So, here’s a soup that’s every bit as delicious with some added protein and veggie power. But it all starts with bacon, so don’t worry, this is definitely scores high on the flavor meter.

Ingredients

Bacon- 1 lb locally raised
Leeks- Three large or four medium leeks
Thyme-  few fresh sprigs or 2 tsp dry
Bay Leaf- 1-2
Potatoes- 4 medium-sized, peeled and cubed
Cauliflower- half to a full head, cut up
(or 2 cups Zucchini, shredded)
Any White Beans- ~ 1 cup
Chicken Stock- 3-4 Cups
Salt + White Pepper to taste
2 Tbsp Cream Cheese – optional

Directions

Soak and cook beans until soft (or used canned). Fry the bacon on low until crispy. Set bacon to drain. Use bacon fat to sauté leeks, on medium low for 5-7 minutes. Add in potatoes, cauliflower or zucchini, thyme and bay leaves. Pour in chicken stock. Simmer until everything is well cooked, 20+ minutes. Fish out bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Add in cream cheese. Use an immersion blender (or blender) to puree soup, or leave chunky if preferred.

Garnish with cream, microgreens, fried leeks, bacon, kale chips, etc… Delicious with homemade sourdough!

I’ve got more Forks in the Dirt “Veggie Heavy” Recipes over on my RECIPES PAGE. I hope you love this soup as much as we do, let me know what you think of the added cauliflower and white beans.

Dig In,

Michelle

Forks in the Dirt Holiday Gift Guide

November 25, 2021 / / 0 Comments

**Updated November 2024**

In typical Forks in the Dirt fashion, I have gift ideas for you that cover a lot of ground. You could even say gifts from the ground up. So, here’s my lovingly curated, Mix + Match, Handmade, Local, Always Learning + Eco Friendly Holiday Gift Guide.

Homemade

Calendula Salve:
Calendula Salve is a super healing and soothing balm great for cold northern winters. I make it with my homegrown Calendula Resina, but Mountain Rose herbs has high quality herbal products.

Soap:
I love gifting homemade soaps, especially when it contains some of my own floral or herbal infused oils! I keep it simple and usually have make the hot process soap. We go over this recipe in detail in our book, Small-Scale Homesteading.

DIY Cocktail Infusing Kits:
These are super simple to make but are really a big impact gift. The recipes I share in THIS ARTICLE are some of my favorite, but you can get creative – just don’t forget to make a few extra for yourself! All recipes can be made into N/A options.


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Welcome to the 5th Annual White Bear Lake Winter Farmers Market!

November 2, 2021 / / 0 Comments
The welcome table at last year’s Farmers Market

We’re so ready to kick off this White Bear Lake Winter Farmers Market season. What started small has grown to be a much anticipated community-wide event each winter.

This season’s market dates are set for November 13 th , December 11th and January 8th. The markets will run 10am to 2pm outdoors, right in front of Tamarack Nature Center. Bringing together local farmers, makers and community is the driving force behind the event- which continues to evolve each year.

Winter Farmers Market Haul!

Last year because of Covid, we moved the event outside and you, the community, didn’t skip a beat! Local food lovers don’t seem to mind an outdoor event, and with Ramsey County Park buildings still closed, we’ll be staying outside again this year. Of course, we’re making it extra cozy, with free hot apple cider from Pine Tree Apple Orchards, and a warming fire pit courtesy of Tamarack Nature Center.  

Market Details

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Tamarack Nature Center and Teaching Gardens

October 27, 2021 / / 1 Comment

Tamarack Nature Center is so many things to so many people!

What everyone can agree on is that spending time in Nature is good for our bodies and our minds.

Tamarack Lake, a short walk from the Nature Center Visitor Center

From gardens and nature play areas to bird watching, maple sugaring and preschool- Tamarack Nature Center (TNC) is a true gem for the Twin Cities nature lover. There are roughly five miles of trails meandering through the 320 acres of widely varied landscapes. You can walk through old growth maple stands, skirt a swamp, round a lake and parade through lots of prairie.

There is also one of the Twin Cities’ largest and most engaging nature play areas, “Discovery Hollow” including a natural waterscape, a log and stick play area, hobbit house and a huge climbing wall with built in caves and sand pit.

Part of Discovery Hollow

Nature Center vs. Park

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Digging in to Farm to Table

October 3, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Farm to Table means different things to different people. But everywhere I look people are digging into the backstory of their food. I see more of us asking questions about local, organic, sustainable and regenerative. What I don’t often hear are questions about the farm families that bring us that food. So, when the Twin Cities Mom Collective invited me to talk with some women farmers of Common Ground Minnesota, I was all in.

The two organizations recently brought together local moms like myself with Minnesota farm women to ‘talk turkey’ and corn, soybeans, beef production, etc…

The Setting

We met at the iconic “Farm at the Arb” which has been restored to all its glory. The barn itself is rustic chic and the gathering lawns, landscaping and vistas put it over the top! As stunning as the Farm is, it is only one historic chapter in the story of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum (the Arb).  

The University of Minnesota has managed the Arb’s 1,200 acres since 1958. It boasts seemingly endless display gardens, plants, tree and shrub collections and educational offerings. This place is a mecca of sorts for Midwest gardeners and nature lovers alike.

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Patty Pan Lasagna

October 1, 2021 / / 0 Comments
Basket of just picked Patty Pan

Everyone loves Lasagna, right!? Here’s my veggie-heavy version. And the trick is using larger (what people may think of as past their prime) Patty Pan squash.

Patty Who?

Patty Pan squash are a prolific heirloom variety that I think of something between a summer and winter squash. The firmness and dense texture of these squash make for a much closer “faux pasta” than regular summer squash! I love all kinds of squash, especially zucchini, and have a dedicated blog all about different ways to use those beauties in Zucchini a Zillion Ways.

The plants themselves are large, but not as big as some typical zucchini plants can get. I got my seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, “White Scallop”.

So how does a big ole squash become pasta-ish? Welcome my trusty mandolin. I use this simple kitchen appliance to slice and shred and it makes my veggie loving life so much easier! From beet chips to slaw I use this almost everyday. A note of caution, the blades are VERY sharp. Most mandolin packages come with a ‘guide’ or shield of some sort, I suggest using that for whenever you get even a little close to the slicing blade.

VIDEO: watch a mandolin slicing patty pan in action

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Eco-Friendly Eating

September 24, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Today I’ve got a guest author digging deep into the field of eco-friendly eating. Help me welcome Laura to the Forks family! I met Laura online via the squares of Instagram and her feed @reducereuserenew and we share so many of the same values. You know I am a local food lover, and never miss a chance to talk about my three keys to eating local all year long:
Grow Your Own, Know Your Farmers, Preserve Local Food.

But this doesn’t mean eating all plants all the time for me- but making smart choices. So, when I asked her to share her take on “Eco Friendly Eating” she went for it.  

This one is worth the read- plus I link back to some of my earlier posts that touch on other aspects of the topics she covers. This article is like a little overview of steps we can take and choices to make that will create a difference for us and future generations- I dare you to choose just one of these changes and stick with it!

So, take it away Laura…

Starting Space

You’ve likely heard of the climate crisis. Scientists have been warning us of what could happen if we don’t make major changes for decades. Unfortunately, the effects of the climate crisis reach many different areas of our lives. The food we eat is no exception. 

But how exactly does the food we eat impact climate change? And what can we do? 

Let’s take a look at the answers to both of those questions. 

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cover crop growing in raised garden bed

Cover Crop Basics

September 1, 2021 / / 6 Comments

Adding a cover crop to the home vegetable garden was a game changer for me, and the garden has been happier ever since. Planting cover crop seed is an easy and effective way to practice good soil health on any scale. There are a few tips and tricks for having the best luck for home gardeners. Timing and seed selection are key!

There are many different ways of cover cropping, from holding a field for a full year, or part of spring or over the winter. Because I succession plant so much of my garden space from early spring to past the frosts of fall, I don’t leave much of my soil bare at any one time. But one of the reasons I have incorporated cover crops is how easy it is to just sow the seeds once I’ve harvested a late summer crop.

There are also a few different reasons people plant cover crops to benefit the garden. One is to build up organic matter in the soil. Another is using legumes to add nitrogen to the soil (or directly to the plants if grown simultaneously). A final reason is to help break up compacted heavy soil with plants that have think roots. If left to rot they create wonderful space in the soil for nutrient and water transfer. Basically, cover cropping is another way of Companion Planting for your garden.

Soil Health Starts with Cover

Image from Kiss the Ground

It always helps me to know the WHY behind whatever I’m doing- so… before I started planting cover crops a few years ago I took a deep dive into soil health. Asking, “Why are we planting seeds in the fall when they won’t have time to mature?” The basic answer is soil health.

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No Dig Gardening + Hügelkultur: Layer a Lasagna Garden

August 19, 2021 / / 2 Comments

No Dig Gardening includes recycling, composting and improving soil all by layering it on! This process is known by a few different names; Hugelkultur, Lasagna Gardening and Sheet Composting, but the ideas are based on “No Dig Gardening”.

Laying out the new beds

Making garden beds this way works with nature’s existing cycles, creating healthy soil, less weeding and happier plants!

This process does NOT need to be created inside a box, just easier to keep layers tidy, I’ve success both in and out of boxes!

Build It and They Will Come!

The idea of setting up a garden bed like this is to let nature do the work for you. You’ll be helping nature create good soil by composting in place- and that requires things for the soil organisms to eat. By giving a diverse group of soil life things to feast on you can create a very active and healthy soil to plant into.

Building Better Soil

Soil biodiversity creates a more resilient garden. I like to equate good soil organisms with good gut health. We’ve likely all heard of pre- and pro- biotics; the helpers of digestion (and so much more). Soil organisms help break things down and make them available to plants in a similar fashion.

Everything from worms and beetles we can see, to bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes and actinomycetes (though I sure couldn’t tell you what those looked like!) have a specific job to do- and many work in relationship with vegetable plant roots to feed them. There is a whole world of info about the soil food web out there, and I suggest watching THIS by Dr. Elaine Ingham if you want to dig a little deeper.

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A Zillion Ways to Zucchini

August 2, 2021 / / 4 Comments
Patty Pan are the cutest!

Are you a Zucchini lover or a hater?

Of course I’m a zucchini lover, I’m a sucker for a veggie that goes overboard and can be used in both sweet and savory ways!

I’ve finally gathered together my collection of recipes and ways I use and preserve Zucchini. I know lots of us vegetable gardeners joke about ‘ding dong ditch’ with these as the season progresses… This is the notorious prolific vegetable. And many get away from me and all gardeners each year (see picture at the end if you want proof of that ;-).

There are so many ways to make use of zucchini! This is such a delicious and versatile veggie. For those of with bounty, or if you just want to savor the sweet summer flavors into winter, read on!

Zucchini Growing Tips

I both start seeds indoors and direct sow- with similar results. I get earlier harvests with the plants started earlier, or more prolific but later with the plants I direct sow. Choose what works for you! They do like lots of compost and can be planted outside a fence, as critters (at least in my area) do not nibble. This is a great news because zucchini plants take up a LOT of space, easily three square feet. A little compost and mulch when planting and you should have oodles of zoodles!

Female flower to the left left, male flower to the right.
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