The Hardworking Hipster

Gardening in Colorado Springs often means dealing with snowstorms in May (at least it has for two years running now). If I had to wait to plant things until the last possible chance of frost had passed, my growing season would be really short. So I don’t wait. 

I like to start my zucchini plants indoors before the last frost partly because I am crazy about zucchini, but mostly because I am impatient to get things growing each spring. (Seriously, it’s like waiting for Christmas but harder!) The thing about zucchini and other squash plants, though, is that they don’t transplant well because they don’t like any disturbance of their roots. 

I’ve experimented with peat pots, which can be placed directly into the ground so as not to disturb the roots of seedlings (too expensive for my needs), and little plastic seedling pots, which require disturbing the roots (not sustainable for someone like myself who wants to avoid purchasing plastic disposables whenever possible, and also too expensive as they crack and need replacement after just a few uses). 

Then, a few months ago, when I was emptying the compost bins we keep in the bottom drawer of the refrigerator into our larger bin outside, I realized that we had so many eggshells that they were going to throw off the balance of my greens versus browns in the bin. That got me thinking... what else can I do with these eggshells? This led to a solution that solved the extra eggshells (additional extras after this project are getting buried in the tomato bed to add calcium to the soil) while also being the answer to my zucchini sprouting woes. 

Sprouting in eggshell pots eliminates costly and wasteful sprouting supplies and allows for seedlings to be transplanted directly into the garden without disturbing their roots!

Here are the supplies you need to try this project at home: 

a clear plastic egg carton that you were just going to recycle anyways (the ones pictured came from Costco’s organic, cage free eggs as we’re not cool enough to keep our own chickens and ducks yet) OR another creative solution

an old tupperware container, preferably a similar shape and size as your egg carton, but you can cut the egg carton to fit into any container

a pair of scissors

a large sewing or upholstery needle and a cork OR a store-bought awl for bookmaking

eggshells

a permanent marker

soil

seeds

The first step is simply to collect eggshells that you’ve cracked around one end so as to keep most of the shells intact to become seed pots -- see the above picture. Though it may seem tricky, you’ll find yourself doing it one-handed before long. I just set a bowl on top of the refrigerator for eggshells and, once it was filled, washed the shells I’d collected in warm, soapy water.

The second step is to use the scissors to cut the plastic egg carton so that it will fit into your old tupperware container. Cut each of the bottoms of the egg slots so that the carton can sit in the tupperware container and allow water to reach each of the eggs from underneath. 

The third step involves using an awl or another creative solution (I simply sunk an upholstery needle into a champagne cork) to poke a good sized hole in the base of the shell. This will allow the seedlings to suck up as much water as they need, keeping the soil consistently moist and improving germination rates. 

The fourth step is to spoon soil into the egg, then add a seed, cover it with soil, and label the egg with the permanent marker if you’d like to keep track of what and when you planted. 

The fifth step is the really fun part: just keep your eggshell planters watered by pouring water into the tupperware container and watch for sprouts! A word of warning to you, don’t put too much water into the tupperware container because it will saturate the planters, but keep enough water in the container so that the soil in each of the planters stays consistently moist. 

When it’s time to transplant your cute little seedlings into the garden, simply remove them carefully from the egg tray, and take a quick peak underneath at the roots to see if they’re working their way out of the hole(s) in the bottom of the shell. If there are a lot of roots visible, plant them in the garden straightaway. If there aren’t many roots visible, carefully take your awl and crack the bottom of the shell further to allow them easy room to grow. Then plant them. 

(Remember that you should always subject plants to a careful transition involving acclimation to sun and weather for an increasing number of hours a day over one to two weeks to improve their chances as they transition from being inside plants to outside plants.)

Here’s a photograph showing sprouted butternut squash, zucchini, jalapeños, huckleberries, and red bell peppers:

Here’s a butternut squash going into the garden: 

Finally, here are some very happy rainbow chard sprouts after transplant:

One of the many dietary restrictions I’ve had to adjust to while living with Crohn’s disease was going gluten free. It was a struggle for at least the first year. I had always been the kid who wanted the rolls and pasta more than anything else at dinner. 

The struggle of abstaining from gluten became less bothersome as it became clearer and clearer that eating it wasn’t worth the catastrophic gastrointestinal consequences (unlike dairy, which may sometimes be worth the wrath of the gut god). Once you’ve got something totally out of your diet for a while, it’s easier to see that it makes you violently ill when you ingest a little bit of it. 

I never trusted the doctors on this one for some reason. I had to torture myself to be sure. I’ll just sample this piece of cake in the name of science... Yep, nope! The doctor was right. I really shouldn’t eat that. 

Abstaining from gluten wasn’t the only learning curve, though. Gluten free baking has been another difficult but rewarding journey. I’ve been at it for years now. The holy grail for me was bread that I could bake each week for toast and sandwiches. I tried all the store-bought options, and they were TERRIBLE -- sliced too thickly, dry to the point of being unswallowable, oddly flavored, impossibly crumbly. The best store-bought loaf I found was Glutino White Sandwich bread. The only problem was that it cost five dollars for a pretty puny loaf. 

So, I started researching recipes, baking bread, making adjustments, and taking a lot of notes. The following recipe (end result pictured above) is the one at which I’ve arrived. As noted in the recipe, I’m baking at high altitude, so anyone trying this recipe at low altitude may need to make adjustments. 

I usually bake a loaf for the coming week each weekend. We’ve all gotten used the smell of bread rising and baking while we listen to public radio and the kids do their homework for the coming school week. 

I’d love to hear from you and see pictures of your bread if you try the recipe! 

Everyday Gluten Free Bread

Yield

One Loaf

Time 

Preparation: 1 1/2 - 2 hours

Cooking: 35 - 40 minutes

Ingredients

3 1/3 cups gf all purpose flour (I have had the most success with Bobs Red Mill brand.)

1/2 cup non-fat dry milk powder

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

3 1/2 tsp xanthum gum

2 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp warm water (110° F)

1 tbsp active dry yeast

Directions

Grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan. 

Add yeast to 3 tbsp of the warm water, whisk, and set aside. 

Whisk all dry ingredients together in mixing bowl. 

In another bowl, whisk water, oil, and eggs. Stir in yeast mixture. 

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well. Beat the batter until smooth, scraping bowl bottom and sides as needed. 

Scrape the batter into the bread pan and smooth out the top. 

In cool weather, let rise about 45 minutes. Then, with bread pan on stovetop, let rise another 15 - 20 minutes with oven heating to 200° F. On warmer days, the dough will likely rise fully without oven heat in 1 1/2 - 2 hours. 

Bake in a 375° F pre-heated oven for 35 - 40 minutes. Top crust will be dark if appropriately cooked. 

Cool briefly in pan - 5 minutes. 

Remove from pan and cool thoroughly on rack. 

Slice only when thoroughly cooled. Freeze only after slicing. 

Notes

I know the water measurements are weird, but they work! Only 2 tbsp of warm water isn’t quite enough to dissolve and activate the yeast. 

Time to rise greatly affected by temperature. 

This is the biggest of my potato plants with resident ladybug who had to be rescued from a wheelbarrow full of rainwater. 

I planted my large (2 ft X 2 ft) cedar potato box with excess red potatoes that grew eyes in the pantry. These went in on St. Patrick's Day, and all five have made an appearance. Here they are, about five weeks later, after an especially rainy weekend. The plants are pretty cold hardy, so I take a risk and plant them well before the last frost. Having them in a raised bed makes it pretty easy to throw a garden blanket over them before a cold night as needed. I haven’t had to do that for the potatoes yet this year, though. (The beets are another story entirely! As seedlings, they demanded to be tucked in every night the temperature dipped below freezing.)

In my experience, the intensity of Colorado sun and heat can cause potato plants stress, which they'll show by wilting. In past years I've been able to help them spring back after particularly hot days by watering them in the evenings. This year, I'm excited to see if they respond well to the newly-installed drip system as their large leaves can be burdened by watering from above. 

Here’s a photograph of some potatoes and other goodies from an evening harvest in July of 2014. The beer can gives reference for size. 

The potato boxes I planted last year are, like this year, made out of scrap cedar from a fence project. The cedar is untreated, so there’s no danger of leeching any funky chemicals or substances into our healthy vegetables. Additionally, cedar is a natural pest repellant. It’s more expensive than other woods, but you can’t beat it for safe, natural pest control for raised vegetable beds. Unlike the potato box I planted this year, the boxes last year were only 1 ft X 1 ft, and I’m pretty sure my yields were low due to lack of space.