Month: February 2023

Harissa Paste Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 15-20 dried guajillo peppers
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/4 tsp caraway seeds
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice

Method:

  • Cover dried peppers with boiling water and allow to sit for 20-30 minutes.
  • Heat a skillet and toast spice seeds for a few minutes. Then crush seeds with a mortar and pestle.
  • Drain the peppers.
  • Add all ingredients to a food processor and blend into a smooth paste.

Spicy Garbanzo Soup

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1 large carrot, diced
  • 6 cloves of garlic, thickly sliced
  • 2 tbsp harissa paste
  • 14 oz can of garbanzo beans
  • 8 cups of stock
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice

Method:

  • Saute onion and garlic in harissa paste
  • Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 15-20 minutes until garbanzo beans are cooked

Office Whiteboard

One giant whiteboard is now hanging in our office — it’s 10′ long! It took all three of us to hold the board and get it mounted. The brackets are hidden behind the board, making installation more challenging but aesthetically improved over brackets jutting up from the board.

Ohio Nursery Licensing

Anyone growing plants for sale in Ohio needs to have their plants inspected for pests — the idea is similar to not moving firewood to prevent the spread of insects … if you are going to be sending plants elsewhere, it is a good idea to ensure you are not also exporting ecosystem destroying bugs!

Relevant definitions are found in ORC 927.51— including what constitutes ‘nursery stock’ — and ORC 927.55 lists exceptions where a license/inspection is not required. It appears that you do not need a license to sell plants that cannot overwinter in Ohio (I see the logic there — if a bug or disease impacts PlantX and PlantX is only going to last a few months … we probably don’t need to worry about rampant spread of that bug or disease) or plants in bloom (that’s an odd exception — but explains how the folks I see selling chrysanthemums in the Autumn do so without a license). While there is a dealer license, that is for resellers and nurseries do not appear to need a dealer license. A nursery, instead, can get a license for additional sales locations.

The nursery license is about $100 a year (plus $11 per acre of production space), and you can apply for a permit online at https://www.apps.agri.ohio.gov/NILS

There is an annual inspection of the growing facility and plants — presuming the inspection doesn’t identify any serious pest or disease infestations, a certificate is issued. The certificate must be displayed in the nursery.

If selling plants for resale (wholesale or resale), then a copy of the certificate must be included on each box/package sent out. If you plan to ship plants outside of Ohio, other states may require a phytosanitary certificate from the Ohio Department of Agriculture. If you plan to ship outside of the United States, there’s an additional federal phytosanitary certificate process through the US Department of Agriculture.