As you know, from an earlier post, I had started some broccoli seed inside.  Well, I'm here to say that they didn't make it.  They all were very leggy and also suffered from a small cold spell.  Again, I set out and researched as to why my plants were so leggy and what I found was that I wasn't getting the seedlings enough light.  Not only was I not giving them enough light, I had the light source much too far from the seedlings themselves.  I had to find a remedy for that and here is what I did.  Grow light shelving!

I looked at all kinds of grow lights and most of them are quite expensive and consequently became a DIY challenge.  First of all, I had a couple of shelf units that we were going to use to organize the garage but were never used.  They are shelving units much like this:

The shelf unit already had holes at the end of each shelf, which I could use to hang my growing lights.  What I ended up using for growing lights are just your run of the mill fluorescent shop light.   The ones found at your typical big box store or local hardware store.  The lights I purchased were less than $11 at my local hardware store:

I simply hung the lights on 3 of the shelf bottoms and I now have a wonderful growing light shelf unit.  I also purchased a simple timer so that I could keep the lights on 16 hours a day.  The timer was just under $4 at Home Depot.  I've now started seedlings for 6 different types of tomatoes, bell peppers, lettuce, eggplant and more broccoli.  I'm very happy with the results and we plan on planting snow peas and transplanting the broccoli this weekend.  This is a very cost effective way to get a setup going for starting your own seeds.  If I were to buy the same shelf unit with the lights I used, the total cost would have come to about $45.  Well worth the ability to start your own plants before the planting season.  Here are a couple of photos of our setup:

Yields

5 gallons/19L, all grain
OG = 1.064
FG = 1.014
IBU = 60
SRM = 12
ABV = 6.4%

Ingredients

Grain

11.5 lbs - 2row pale malt
1.0lb - crystal (35 °L)
.5lb Carapils malt

Hops

11 AAU Chinook hops (60 mins) = 1.0 oz of 11% alpha acids
8.5 AAU Cascade hops (30 mins) = 1.7 oz of 5% alpha acids
0.66 oz Cascade hops (for the dry hop)
0.66 oz Centennial hops (for the dry hop)

Extras

1 teaspoon of Irish moss (15 mins)

Yeast

Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) or White Labs WLP001 (California Ale)

Process

Mash at 156 °F for 60 minutes.  Boil wort for 90 minutes, adding hops as indicated above next to the specific hops.  Ferment at 66 °F.  Dry hop in a secondary for 5 days at 60 °F after primary fermentation is done.  Bottle/Keg.

Extract Options

If you don't want to bother with the all grain version (although you should) you can replace the 2row malt with 5.5 lbs of dried malt extract and 1.5 lbs of 2row malt.  Steep the crushed grains in 120 fluid ounces of water at 156 °F for 45 minutes and then follow the rest of the process above for the boil and fermentation.

Click for fullsize

Just over a week ago, I started our broccoli seeds inside.  Last year, as I stated in the previous blog post, we didn't plan our garden out very well.  We did have quite a few vegetables last year, but broccoli was not one of them.  The reason we didn't have any broccoli was because I was unaware that the growing season is too short here in the Southern Interior for broccoli without starting your seed early inside and then transplanting to the garden.  Well, that and the fact that when the broccoli did try to make florets, the deer were on it in no time.  This year I started the seed early (42 plants) and have a plan to use row covers to keep the pests out.  I'll create a write-up about the row covers at a later date when I set it all up.

Starting the broccoli seed was very easy.  Since we don't have a greenhouse on our property yet, I had to settle on something a bit cheaper.  Strike that, a lot cheaper.  Like less than $10!  I bought a couple of Jiffy Greenhouse kits from the Ferry Morse Seed Co.  You can buy some of your own by using the link at the bottom of this post.

The process of starting seed is quite easy.

1. Use peat pellets, like those in the Jiffy Greenhouse, or just buy a bag of vermiculite soil or peat and place in planting containers/egg cartons, etc.  Anything will do.
2. Water the peat or vermiculite a bit and let it expand until it's like a sponge and then fluff the surface and level.
3. Sow 2-3 seeds per pellet or every couple of inches if using potting soil.  Cover lightly with peat.
4. Place the dome cover over the tray of peat pellets and keep it in a warm location away from direct sunlight.  I kept mine in the pantry and left a fluorescent light on 11-14 hours a day.
5. When first seeds start to sprout, prop the lid open.  When all seeds have sprouted, remove the dome and place in a sunny location.  I kept mine in the pantry with the light on.
6. After first true leaves appear, cut back all but the strongest seedling in each pellet or group of seedlings.

And that's it!  Once you are ready to transplant the seedlings, it's best to harden the plants by placing them outside in the shade for several days and bring them in at night.  All the while gradually exposing them to full sunlight.  Once hardened, simply dig holes, place the seedling(s) in said holes and firm soil around it.  Water.

Last year we started with 4 - 12'x4' raised beds.  This year we are adding 2 more beds and we've taken the time to layout and diagram our garden for each raised bed.  I think this will not only help us during planting, but also help us in logging data with regards to the garden.  The software I used to diagram the layout is called Dia.  It's an open source software application that you can use on your Linux or Windows computer for free.

Download the original image.  Right Click > Save Link As...  - Very large (3526 x 1687)

Garden Diagram Dia File - Open this file in Dia and design your own layout!

Yields

5 gallons
Assumes: 70% efficiency, 5.5 gallons at end of boil
OG: 1.060 (15 P)    IBU: 69

All Grain Version

• 11.0 lb (5 kg) Great Western 2-row pale malt
• 0.5 lb (227 g) 120L crystal malt
• 0.5 lb (227 g) chocolate malt
• 0.5 lb (227 g) rolled oats
• 3.0 oz (85 g) roasted barley

Mash at 150F (65C) for 60 minutes. Sparge at 175F (79C) to collect 6.5
gallons of pre-boil wort.

Extract Plus Grains

Steep speciality malts, roasted barley and oats in 150F (65C) water for
20 minutes. Strain, add 7.5 lb (3.4 kg) light malt extract syrup, then
proceed with the boil.

Boil

• 1.oz (28 g) Cascade pellet hops, 5% AA (90 min)
• 1.oz (28 g) Cascade pellet hops, 5% AA (60 min)
• 1.oz (28 g) Cascade pellet hops, 5% AA (30 min)
• 1.oz (28 g) Cascade pellet hops, 5% AA (knockout)
• 1 tsp (5 mL) Irish moss (20 min)
• Wyeast Pacman
  

Boil 90 minutes with the additions shown above. Cool to 60F (16C) and
pitch yeast. Ferment at 60F (16C) for one week, then siphon into
secondary. Hold in secondary at 60F (16C) until fermentation is
complete, then bottle/keg and condition.

Ingredients

• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• Pinch of sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal
• 1 egg white
• 1 tablespoon water

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour and salt. In a separate container, combine the pinch of sugar, yeast and 2 cups of warm water. Let the water mixture sit for 3-5 minutes so the yeast can start to eat.
2. Add water mixture to the large bowl of flour and salt. Mix until well blended using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the remaining flour as you are mixing.
3. On a lightly floured surface, knead in enough flour to make a stiff dough that is smooth and elastic. Knead for about 8 to 10 minutes total. Shape into a ball. Place dough in a greased bowl, and turn once. Cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled. What I like to do is turn the oven on for about 30 seconds to a minute and let it warm up a bit. This is where I place the dough to rise. Don't let the oven get too hot, though. You should be able to keep your arm within the stove without it being uncomfortable (80-90F)
4. Punch dough down, and divide in half. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover, and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each half into large rectangle. Roll up, starting from a long side. Moisten edge with water and seal. Taper ends.
5. Grease a large baking sheet. Sprinkle with cornmeal. Place loaves, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Lightly beat the egg white with 1 tablespoon of water, and brush on. Cover with a damp cloth. Let rise until nearly doubled, 35 to 40 minutes.
6. With a very sharp knife, make 3 or 4 diagonal cuts about 1/4 inch deep across top of each loaf. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oven for 20 minutes. Brush again with egg white mixture. Bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until bread tests done. If necessary, cover loosely with foil to prevent over browning. Remove from baking sheet, and cool on a wire rack.

And that's it!  Below you can see a couple of photos I took before I put the bread in the oven and after I had taken it out.   Also, I've added the recipe as an attachment.  It's in an Open Document format.  It should open in your word processor of choice.  We support open platforms and open source software, so we use OpenOffice.   Enjoy!

Click Here to Download the French Bread Recipe document

Tate, Amy, Daniel & Ruby