Hydroponic update

WTF

I was considering transplanting some of the tomato plants, someone beat me to it apparently .

recent meals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomatillo Salsa

 

Rice and beans, Broccoli, and my daughter’s recipe of breaded chicken breast

Rice and bean salad

Fresh bread, all purpose, spent grain, and rice flour combination

Chicken vegetable soup with sausage dumplings.

 

Eggplant, meatball and mozzarella

 

Chicken Curry

From Food 52 Meera Sodha’s Mum’s Chicken Curry

• A spicy chicken dish , I scaled the recipe in half and used 2 chicken thighs , bone in with the skin.
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter and 1/2 tablespoon oil (canola, olive etc.)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 , 1 and 3/4 inch cinnamon stick
• 1 large onion finely diced
• 1, 1 and 1/4 inch ginger root, peeled and grated
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 fresh chilis, green
• salt
• 3 or 4  oz strained tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoon yogurt, plain whole milk
• 1 lb or so chicken, the thighs are had were large so two we close to 1 lb
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons ground almonds
• 1 teaspoon garam masala

No surprises here, this is  similar to a braised dish and no marination or browning of the chicken is required. As always if you measure and prep the ingredients, the recipe goes easy.

I found these plastic sheets for cutting at the local Job lot, inexpensive and easy to clean plus the diced ingredients can be funnelled right into the pan. Cumin seeds are on the order list, none in stock so I used ground cumin for the saute step.

So in the butter and oil sputter the cumin seeds and cinnamon. Add all the onion and cook till very golden, low medium heat, 10 to 12 minutes. Pound up the chilis and ginger and garlic in a pestle to a course paste, very fragrant ! Add it to the onion mixture. cook for additional 2 minutes.

Now add the paste just cook the following a few minutes layering the ingredients.

Now go with the tomato paste , ground cumin, turmeric, salt to preference and whisk in the yoghurt, cook till heated through.  Add the chicken.

Lid the pan and slow simmer about 30 minutes or until the chicken pieces are done. Finish with the final addition of the ground nuts and garam masala. Flat breads or rice is a good side.

Tomato is the dominate flavor with a spicy finish not too hot. The curry is rather thick and towards the end of the recipe before the chicken was added, I added additional water. Its may be due to the fact or store bought yogurt is thick with no liquid.

I would probably go with more ginger and garlic, but with these many individual flavors additions, it also depends on the quality and freshness of the spices and herbs utilized that could affect the ratio and your preferences.

coconut curry shrimp

Coconut and coconut milk is something I’ve been incorporating into my meal preparation. Yes, if you look it up there are numerous health claims about what it does but again I try not to get swayed by only by the published health benefits of certain foods. As history proves fads and “new studies” contribute to the sometime misinformation about certain foods and there are surely plenty of healthy types of diets out there to follow. Usually I am open to different types of recipes that provide different types of ingredients, again moderation is the key and often whats proposed to be good for someone may not be your cup of tea. Flavor is a key factor whether it’s a vegan dish or a 1 1/2 inch thick porterhouse steak.

Back to the recipe, as I learn from another blogger some coconut and water is all you need to make a coconut milk type liquid.

prep for saute: ginger,onion, dried hot red pepper,parsley

Let’s make the coconut milk , some shredded coconut, a splash of heavy cream, and water processed in a food processor. The heavy cream gives the fluid some clumps which will cook smooth later.

Saute the prepped ingredients.

Meanwhile since I have frozen shrimp, thaw in water.

Added fresh home-grown hydroponic tomatoes  (I don’t really brag that often)

Cook and mash tomato… you can reinforce  the mix with added ginger and garlic pastes.

Added some habernaro paste, very concentrated

spices, curry powder and cardamom powder

Add the coconut milk mixture, heat to a slight boil, add the shrimp, cook only a few minutes at simmer, cover and turn off heat and set aside so residual heat will finish cooking shrimp.

Serve over rice, garnish with parsley or coriander

hydroponic update

Much has changed since the last posting about hydroponics, the one tomato plant remaining in the DWC since the removal of the other plantings that failed, has enjoyed a revival. The one plant several feet bare from the bottom to some blossoms at the top, has sprung growth all along the main stem.

One idea that was illustrated to me by http://www.hydroponics.com.au/  (in one of their online magazines) was the method of where tomatoes grow to excessive length, that they are lowered and then trained to grow horizontally. since the new growth spurt caused the plant to grow beyond the top of the tomato tower, I did drop, and resecure the plant now winding it around the poles and suspending it with the twine and clamps.

Pictures tell the story better than description.

(Small additional greens have been started and placed in 2 of the net pots.)

Thats the air pump in the background , runs 24/7, housed in a plastic container.

Green Chili Tomato Jam

Adapted from blog Cooking without Limits

Substituted a few ingredients for a savory chili sauce\ jam.

Rough measurements, and by taste to get a sweet\sour taste.

Very  good use for tomato and hot peppers.

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Green jalapeno peppers with seeds…  about 125 grams, processed in a food processor

white sugar……. 68 grams

apple cider vinegar …. about 51 ml

bottled lemon juice and peeled processed orange  combination ….. 2 tablespoons more or less

Tomatoes, cherry/grape type  is what I have harvested recently.

Pour the vinegar, sugar, orange and lemon juice in a pan

boil for 5 minutes, add the hot  peppers, Add tomato (amount by eye) to achieve and desired consistency.

Cook on low heat to thicken, adjust measurements if necessary, place in jar, cool and refrigerate.

Due to the size of the tomatoes, the sauce has a high concentration of seeds versus pulp. A good condiment to have on hand not only for toast etc. but a cooking ingredient for sauces and marinades.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

hydroponic update II

07/11/17

Some wilting of  some the leaves on some of the plants, could be from

• too high a nutrient level
• root overcrowding of the reservoir, too many plantings for the capacity of the reservoir
• not enough aeration of the nutrients
• inadequate flushing of the reservoir, 2 week intervals
• too much sunlight
• not enough air flow
• accumulation of rainwater overfilling reservoir
• all of the above

The tomatoes continue to bloom and ripen despite the drooping leaves, some leaves have browned,

Some of the leaves were removed  from the lower parts of the plants to promote air circulation.

Tomatoes ripen at different sizes, possibly from different nutrient mix, Open Sesame, Beastie Bloom, Cha Ching. (Fox Farm nutrients) Different stages of growth on the vine locations.

Next year, most likely less plantings, only one per net pot, only 3-4 per reservoir.

The NFT lettuce and greens system in on hold for now,  read an article on Meniscus membrane systems. Could continue during the colder months indoors or earlier.  No rush whatsoever.

07/16/2017

More of the leaves have browned and drooped or dried. Dropped nutrient level, and checked the PPM more frequently. Tomatoes  still ripening and harvesting.

07/20/2017

The PVC tomato tower was a success, plenty  of places to tie on support lines

Cut back a lot of the dried growth

Some of the tomatoes have a grape like skin and fruit

07/30/2017

  Cut back browned plants, harvested tomatoes on the vine for ripening.

Drain and cleaned out net pots , lava rock and flushed reservoir light solution of Sledgehammer. Massive root ball one one side of the reservoir .

New growth on remaining plants.

Trashed trimmed vines

The root system was so dense, I had to cut the roots of the discarded plants

Flushing of the reservoir with a weak Sledgehammer solution and clean water

Sun ripened tomatoes from the vine.

08/03/2017

 Now I trimmed down to one plant in one net pot. the plant is still growing and producing fruit. but of course the harvest will be much less. Some trimmed vine fruit is ripening off the vine. The flavor of these tomatoes are not sweet, so to speak, but have a good balanced tomato flavor that I’ve grown to enjoy. It’s difficult to get a good sweet tomato even from the store as a certain variety has to be at the peak of flavor and that is a very short time. Overall I like this type of tomato that’s  for container gardening and will grow it again. I’ve learned the limits of this setup.

Assortment of greens have been started indoors for the remainder of the summer and fall. I suppose I could start more tomatoes, but will concentrate on greens for now and develop the NFT system.