Raised Bed Remodel

I thought it was time to remodel the garden and improve upon my raised beds.  Originally I had planned to install redwood raised beds, but the price tag was a bit hard to swallow.  So I went with a heavy border material.  To the left of the photo, you see the raised stone area where the new double barreled compost bin will sit.

 PVC Pipe mini greenhouse set-up for seedlings.

I think I went a little overboard with the tomato and pepper plants.  These guys are now moved into the greenhouse outside and I am preparing to get the Okra, Squash and Beans started.

 Red Mustard Greens and Collard Greens in my large grow bag.  These guys seem to love the partially processed compost that I buried in the bottom.  I thought the trenching method of composting might work well in the grow bags.

 
More Collard Greens and Indian Green Mustard Greens.

Oranges! Oranges! Oranges!

The recent deep freeze that we've had in Northern California in the last few weeks meant pulling the oranges off the Navel Orange tree in a hurry.  We ended up with about 45 lbs. of ripe oranges.  The next question, was what to do with all of these oranges.  Last year I made 35 jars of orange jam and orange marmalade, so that is definitely out.

I dehydrated peeled orange pieces for healthy snacks.  3/4" round slices were dehydrated at 130 degrees for 28 hours (yes, a long time). I vacuum seal oranges in mason jars as they tend to get crushed using the vacuum sealer bags...and they look so pretty in the jars.

Dehydrated Orange Pieces

Full orange slice were dehydrated for pretty decorations and flavoring in water, punches or Sangria (yumm).

  The internet was full of recipes and raves for this Orange Vinegar Cleaner.  It is simply orange peels submerged in vinegar (white or apple cidar) for 10 days.  I haven't tried this yet (only on day 4), but I will update you once I've tried it.

Orange Vinegar Cleaner

 I also found a recipe for using dehydrated ground orange peels as a garden fertilizer and bug/cat repellent. I will try this and see how it works.  It's supposed to be great for getting rid of aphids and repelling cats.  However, my dad brought to my attention that it would be easier to just throw the peelings in the compost than exert the energy required to dehydrate them and apply to the soil as fertilizer.

Orange Fertilizer

 Instead of zesting the orange peels and then drying them, I used a vegetable peeler to remove the peelings with the pith and dehydrated them.  They dehydrate quickly ( 6 - 8 hours at 130 degrees).  I then powdered them using my blender (a coffee grinder or other device will work as well).

Dehydrated Orange Zest

I also water bath canned 24 pint jars of fresh orange slices in a light syrup.

So, that's it so far, but we still have a whole 2nd tree whose oranges will be ready in a few months...hmmm what to do, what do do?