Save Space for Seedlings; Clone Your Tomatoes

Every vegetable we plant at Forgotten Forty Farm is heirloom, organic, and delicious, but what we're really known for is our tomatoes. Everyone loves tomatoes 

Every year people in the area anticipate our nearly 50 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, and inevitably ask to purchase some plants for themselves. I don't have a great deal of space in my indoor grow-boxes for many more than the 600 I have to start for myself each year, and I won't have a heated greenhouse until the hobbit house is finished, so the problem presents itself;  "Where do I start plants for everyone else?"

I clone my tomatoes and I use my fish tank. 

When I start the process, to save space initially, I plant my tomato seedlings 5 to a four inch pot, in a dice pattern. I let these seedlings get to a transplantable size, with at least 2 sets of mature leaves and a decent growing tip, and then I separate them into individual pots. This usually occurs for me at about 3 weeks after sowing. When they are transplanted, they are dropped down in the soil to the first pair of true leaves as a means of supporting a stronger root system, and buying me more time under the grow lights in the space available. 

The proper size for tomato clones 

My shelves are set up to support a maximum of 18 inches under the lights in order to give me as many shelves as I can manage vertically, while still having room to move the lights up and down as needed to promote good growth of the plants at any size. When the plants reach their maximum height for the shelves, it's time to clone. I find that mine usually take another 2 weeks after transplant, but every system will vary. The important thing is to make sure the plant is sturdy, healthy and at least a foot tall with a minimum of 4 pairs of true leaves at a good size, and a well established growing tip. 

Tomato mothers 

When cloning, I prefer to do a coppice cloning, leaving two leaf petioles on the mother plant to form 2 new growing tips. I string my tomatoes vertically, so this gives me a great base to start from when I plant them out, and also gives insurance in case one of the growing tips doesn't take. If I end up with 2 growing tips, I wait until they are old enough to clone again, and I take another cutting of just one sucker.  This way I maintain my single growing tip for the plants I'm keeping, while still being able to clone for sale to the public. When I take the cuttings, I make sure that there is at least one leaf on a stem, and that the stems will be long enough to stick into the water (about 3 inches minimum). 

Cloned mother plants ready to sprout suckers 

The aquarium is a 90 gallon tank set up with a HOT (Hang On Tank) filter, and a jet pump filter to help circulation. It is heated to roughly 70 degrees, and has a single length of white wire closet shelving laid across the top of the tank to organize and support the cuttings until they root. Labels are hung from the lip extending down the front of the tank for easy identification, and grow lights are suspended above the whole system. I have Fiddler Crabs, Ghost Shrimp, and Apple Snails stocked in the tank for cleaning. The Apple snails are especially beneficial, as they eat decaying plant material and algae only, not live plants, so I'm able to clone in the tank, and they help tend to any clones that fail to strike for whatever reason. 

 Tomato clone rooting station 

With the Apple snails cleaning up the edges of the cuts that would normally die off, along with any other problem pieces, I get a near 100% success rate. The clones usually start rooting immediately, with noticeable development in 2 days. They are almost always ready to plant by the first week, and take to soil very well at that stage. With this method, I'm able to save space in my grow-boxes while developing 250+ clones in the space that only 36 would normally fit. 

 Tomato clones rooting in the aquarium 

I call that a win.  

 Tomato seedlings ready for cloning 

Happy Homesteading!

8 Steps to Clean Catfish

Texas Pioneer WomanIn my opinion fishing is a beneficial self-reliant skill that all people must have. There is a lot of pride that comes from standing on a river bank or sitting out in a boat on the lake fishing for my supper. I try to catch enough fish for my supper and a bit extra to put in the freezer for another day.
 

Catfish that needs to be cleaned
Catfish that needs to be cleaned. 

Once we have caught the fish we head home to clean them for supper. Preparing caught fish can sometimes be a little intimidating because you have to do a quite a bit to get the live fish from the fishing hook to the skillet. To be honest my husband prepares the fish for me and then it is my job to cook them for supper. But as a self-reliant woman I need to learn how to do it myself, so I took lessons from my husband one evening after an afternoon of fishing.

I grew up hearing the saying, “There is more than one way to skin a cat.” I can’t imagine how that saying came about; it seems diabolical to skin a cat.  But the meaning of that saying is what is important here. That saying means that there is more than one way to do something. With that in mind, I’m going to explain how my husband taught me to clean fish.

A Few Basic Tips  

  1. Always cut away from you. If the knife slips, then it is less likely to cut you.
  2. Be aware of the sharp fins and bones when cleaning fish. They can cause puncture wounds.
  3. Use a sharp knife. The less you have to struggle with a knife, the less likely the chance of an accident.

The Eight Steps to Clean a Catfish 

  1. Rinse fish thoroughly with clean water.
  2. Fish can either be cleaned on a cutting board or hung by its mouth.

Fish can be cleaned on a cutting board
Fish can be cleaned on a cutting board. 

hang our fish for cleaning
We use a simple 2 by 4 lumber with a chain and hook on one end to hang our fish for cleaning. 

  1. With catfish in hand cut under the gills and all around the head.

Make an incision under catfish gills
Make an incision under catfish gills. 

  1. Remove the fins by using pliers or skinning pliers.

Remove catfish fins
Remove catfish fins. 

  1. Grasp the skin with pliers or skinning pliers and peel it straight down towards the tail. Repeat this until all skin is removed.

Remove catfish skin
Remove catfish skin. 

  1. Insert the knife under the gills and slice down the belly. Open up the belly to remove the entrails.

Remove catfish entrails
Remove catfish entrails. 

  1. Make a cut under the bone of the head.

Cut catfish head
Cut catfish head. 

  1. Grab the catfish and bend the head until the backbone snaps.

Remove catfish head
Remove catfish head. 

  1. Rinse thoroughly inside and out with clean water.

Cleaned Catfish
Cleaned Catfish 

Once I learned the basics of dressing the fish, serving a hearty fish supper from start to finish can be quite easy. Preparing a delicious fish dinner can also be very healthy, economical and self-sustaining. I hope you will challenge yourself to catch and clean your own fish supper this weekend!

To learn more information about self-reliant skills see my blog.
www.thetexaspioneerwoman.blogspot.com 

Homemade Fish and Chips: St. Patrick's Day Delight

GRIT Editor Hank Will at the wheel of his 1964 IH pickup.My Partner In Culinary Crime suprised me last night with the most amazing fish and chips for supper -- a real St. Patrick's Day delight. Supper was actually deep fried fish and boiled new potatoes with a delicious tartar sauce she whipped up too. Wow! When I asked her whether she felt like going out for some St. Patrick's Day corned beef and cabbage, she turned and told me this story: "I wanted to make something festive for St. Patty's day without having to run to town for groceries, so I looked around at what we had (that 10 lbs. of cod in the freezer from my recent fish splurge helped), and came up with fish and 'chips' - I substituted boiled new potatoes for fries since we didn't have russets. I was inspired by this girl's blog (Budget Cooking For Two), which included a fried fish recipe that came from the Barefoot Contessa." She said that she tweaked the fish recipe a tiny bit -- I said: "Wow, is that delicious!"

Homemade Fish and Chips 

It took a little arm twisting to get my PICC to agree to let me post these recipes since she didn't invent everything from scratch, but here you go. And she doesn't know that my not-at-all styled food shot is going in here too -- there will be reprimands, but what can you do with a phone camera, poor light and an aching hunger in your belly? Oh, and in the spirit of using what we had on hand, I rummaged around deep in the fridge and found a can of stout. I poured it into two jars -- one for her and one for me.

Fried Cod 

1 lb cod, fillets or chunks, cut into 3" pieces
1/2 c plus 1 T. all-purpose flour
1/2 T. baking powder
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest
1/2 cup water
1 large egg
frying oil
 

1. Rinse and dry the fish, then sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides.  

2. Mix the flour, baking powder, cayenne, salt, pepper, and lemon zest in a medium bowl. Whisk in the water, then the egg.  

3. Pour 1/2" of frying oil (I used a combination of safflower and peanut) into a large cast iron pot. Heat the oil to 360 degrees, monitoring with a cooking thermometer. You'll need to keep the stove at medium-high heat to maintain the temperature at 360.  

4. Working in batches, dredge the fish in the batter, then carefully place in hot oil. Cook 3 minutes on each side. Place on a paper-towel-lined plate to cool.

 

Tartar Sauce 

I didn't have relish or pickles in the fridge, so I just put together some similar ingredients and came up with a nice homemade tartar sauce.

3/4 cup Hellmann's mayonnaise 

2 T. minced onion 

1 T. white wine vinegar 

1/2 tsp. dried dill  

dash of salt and pepper 

Mix all ingredients together. 

Ice Fishing Report Coming Monday

Gritty takes a dipWelp, we failed to hear from Hank or any of his cohorts on the ice fishing trip today, and I’m willing to bet it was because one of three things, either: he’s in such a remote location he couldn’t get wireless service to e-mail a blog; he ran into such good luck he couldn’t spare the time it takes to put down the rod, reel and beverage; or (God forbid, and this sounds like something that would happen to our Gritty) he fell through.

The good news is if he’d fallen through, all of us here at the office would probably know it by now. Watch this space Monday for Hank’s full ice fishing report.

Best Regards,
Caleb


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